My Sakura
by Zero2-the-scyther
Summary: When all the teams are told to attend a dance,Sakura asks Sasuke,who reluctantly agrees to go with her as a friend.But it is only then does Sasuke realizes that he may have fallen for his pink haired teammate... sasusaku,naruhina,inoshika,nejitenten -FINI
1. Ch1 What? A dance!

-0-My Sakura-0-

Please enjoy! And yes, this is my first Naruto fan fiction story!

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei! We've finished our mission now! Can we go home yet? I want to eat some ramen!" Naruto yelled as he ran to his teacher, who was currently reading his favourite book, "Come Come Paradise".

"Huh? Of course we can go now. Sakura, Sasuke, we're going to go back to Konoha Village now."

"Yes, sensei," Sakura smiled as she carried her bag. Naruto grinned as Sasuke crossed his arms, looking at the high noon sun. It was really that day, and they had just completed their assigned mission: repair an elderly woman's door frame and clean up her attic for her.

Sasuke sighed. While Sakura was complaining to Naruto about the fact that he was always complaining about how hungry he was, he stole a glance at his pink-haired team mate. Those green emerald eyes gleamed in the sun. The short pink hair waved from side to side as she walked. That . . . that smile. . .

_You're staring, Uchiha. _

Turning away from her, Sasuke focused his eyes on the trees they were passing through as they walked down the road. Sakura and Naruto were walking in front of him while he lagged behind with Kakashi.

"Lost in thought, Sasuke?" Kakashi's voice broke into his thoughts. Slightly startled, though he did not dare to show it, Sasuke turned to face Kakashi, whose eye was glancing at him. Sasuke frowned and turned away once again.

"Say, Kakashi-sensei?" came Naruto's voice. "How much further is Konoha?"

"Not far. I say we'd be there in maybe an hour or so."

"Ow!" Sakura suddenly tripped on the road and fell.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto ran to her side. Sasuke stood still, with Kakashi by his side.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Kakashi asked, as Sakura brushed the dust off her clothes. She rubbed her leg.

Sakura noticed Sasuke staring at her. _I can't make it look like I'm a klutz. If I do, then he'll think I'm clumsy,_ Sakura thought in her head. She quickly flicked her head, her bangs flying back.

"I'm okay," she said, a little too quickly. She quickly stood up to prove her point, but after taking one step with her right foot, a sharp pain shot in her leg. She winced in pain and kneeled down.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto crouched down next to Sakura. "What's wrong?" Sakura didn't answer him, but wrapped her hand around her ankle and felt it. The pain increased. She trembled slightly and closed her eyes, head lowered. _Darn it. I can't let him see that I'm this weak, but-_

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said again. Sasuke walked a bit closer to where Sakura was kneeling on the ground.

"Sakura, can you stand up?" he called to her. Sakura shook her head, face still down. Kakashi stood in front of her and bent down, his shadow covering Sakura.

"Sakura, is it your foot?" he asked quietly.

Sakura held back her tears, and finally gave in. "It's my . . . my ankle. . . It really hurts. . ." She bit her lip.

"We still have to walk for at least one hour more," Kakashi said, as he watched Sakura try to massage her ankle.

Sasuke sighed as Naruto turned to Kakashi Sensei. "Sensei! Sensei! Can I carry her?"

A fist landed on top of the kneeling Naruto, as he landed flat on the floor. It was Sakura's fist.

"Hey. . ." he murmured, face on the dirt. "I'm just offering to help you know-"

"Well who knows if you're going to drop me or something?!" Sakura exclaimed as she tried to stand up again but with no success. Kakashi sighed and made a decision.

"Sasuke," he called.

"Yeah?"

"I'm assigning you to carry Sakura back to the Konoha Village."

". . . What?. . ."

"I said I'm assigning you to carry Sakura back to the Konoha Village."

". . . What if I don't want to-" Sasuke started to say.

"No fair!" Naruto's head rose quickly from the ground. "I want to carry Sakura back! Besides, Sasuke's too weak to carry a girl back-"

Again, a fist was banged on top of his head, this time being Sasuke's.

"I am not weak, idiot," he muttered.

"Ahhhh. . . . ." Naruto's head sunk deeper this time into the uneven ground.

"Then it's settled," Kakashi replied cheerfully before Sasuke could protest. "Here, Sakura." Kakashi lend her a hand.

"Huh? Oh, thank you, sensei." Reaching for Kakashi's large hand, she unsteadily stood up, while Kakashi helped her up. Sasuke, who was trying extremely hard not to look embarrassed, turned with his back to Sakura and kneeled down on one knee. Naruto gingerly carried Sasuke and Sakura's backpacks as well as his own as Sakura hopped towards Sasuke's direction.

_Oh my gosh, I'm so embarrassed! But this is kind of fun that Sasuke-kun gets to carry me. . ._

Sasuke turned his head around and quickly faced forward again, lip tight, when Sakura put her hand on his shoulder. Slowly, she put both hands on his shoulders, and Sasuke reached behind to draw her legs into a piggy-back position.

"You ready, Sasuke?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah. . ."

"Okay then. 1, 2, 3." Carefully, and somehow he managed to do it 'coolly', Sasuke stood up, with Sakura on his back. Sakura almost immediately crossed her arms across his neck.

"Alright then. Let's go."

"You'd BETTER not drop Sakura-chan, Sasuke, or you're going to regret it!" Naruto hissed under his breath.

Sasuke frowned at him with a look of annoyance on his face, then walked along side Kakashi with Sakura on his back.

They continued to walk down the road, with only Naruto talking about how great of a Hokage he was going to be in the future. Kakashi was reading his all time favourite book the whole time.

Sakura tried not to squeeze Sasuke too hard, though she had a huge temptation to hug him. Neither one spoke, and as usual, Sasuke was acting as if nothing had happened.

_He's so quiet,_ Sakura thought. _The only time he actually talks is when he has a plan or when he's arguing or lecturing Naruto. Other than that, he hardly even talks to me. . . Maybe I should try to get him to talk to me. . . _

"Sorry about this, Sasuke-kun," she said. "I didn't mean to be such a burden to you."

". . . . . ."

"W-what I meant was that, I didn't mean to cause such an inconvenience to you-"

"It wasn't like I had a choice, you know. . ."

_He's probably going to say that he's just doing this because Kakashi assigned him to,_ Sakura thought sadly.

"None of us would have wanted to see you hop on one foot the entire way back, and since you didn't want Naruto to carry you, it wasn't like I had a choice."

"H-huh?" _Did Sasuke-kun just say that?_

"What now?"

"No. Nothing." Sakura remained quiet after saying that.

". . . . . ." Sasuke walked on in silence, while Naruto talked loudly about his plans to become a Hokage once again.

_She's lighter than I thought,_ Sasuke realized. _And for once, she's actually not going on and rambling about how great I am. _

They walked for another half hour before they stopped at a tiny snack store. Sakura sat outside on a wooden bench with their bags while Sasuke stretched. Naruto and Kakashi had gone inside the shop to get something to drink, as well as some ice for Sakura's ankle.

As Sasuke was stretching, Sakura looked down at her ankle. It had now gotten a bit swollen and was started to swell up. Taking off her right shoe, she tried rotating her ankle in circles, but stopped after one attempt due to the pain.

Sasuke, who was stretching out his arms, glanced behind him at Sakura, who was wincing at her ankle again.

"Has it gotten worse?" he asked. Sakura looked at him, surprised to hear him talk to her.

"I think so. It wasn't nearly as swollen as now." She looked down gingerly at her foot again.

"You know, maybe you should train harder," Sasuke said, this time staring into the sky with his back towards her. "That way, your body will be able to grow stronger and not be as fragile as now."

Sakura looked down. "Yeah. . . I guess you're right. . ." _Even Sasuke's saying that I should train harder. I guess I **have** been slacking off a little too much. When my ankle returns to normal, I will train harder- _

"Huh?" Sakura looked up again when she felt someone touch her foot. She was surprised to find that Sasuke was now kneeling in front of her, and examining her ankle. "S. . .Sasuke-k-kun?"

"Hm?" Sasuke grunted, not looking up. He didn't release the hand he had around her ankle.

"What are you- OW!" Sakura exclaimed. She almost simultaneously moved her leg away from Sasuke as he tried to rotate her foot. But since he kept a firm grip on her foot, Sakura could not move her leg away. "Sasuke-kun! That hurt!"

". . . If you don't be quiet, I can't find out how badly injured your leg is. . ."

"O-oh. Sorry."

". . . . . ." Taking hold of her heel, Sasuke rotated her ankle. Sakura bit her bottom lip the whole time, partly because her ankle was killing her and partly because she couldn't believe that Sasuke, out of all people, was trying to see how badly she was hurt.

"Can you move your ankle up and down?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah." Sakura moved her ankle slowly to prove her point.

"'Kay." Sasuke ran a thumb down her ankle, and then looked up to her. "You didn't break your ankle, but you sprained it. It should recover in a few days."

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun." Sakura smiled at him. Sasuke, surprised to realize he had found her smile charming, looked back down to her ankle.

". . . . . ."

"Why are you always so quiet?" she suddenly asked out of the blue. "Whenever I see you, you're always so . . . quiet."

". . . . . . ."

"I'm being nosy here, aren't I?" _Oh God, now he probably thinks I'm trying to intrude in his quiet life._

Sasuke looked up again. "You are, sort of," he answered. Sakura sighed sadly. She didn't think Sasuke would ever answer to her question. "I. . . I like to be a quiet person," he said, after a moment of silence. "Loud people are just too obnoxious and I never liked being the centre of attention. It's most frustrating. . ."

"Oh. . ." _Is this how he feels every time a group of girls come up to him to ask him out? _Sakura thought, head down. _If he truly feels this way, then I guess I'll help him out by not going up to him like that all the time._

"Sakura. . ." Sasuke murmured.

"Huh?" Sakura flipped her head up and stared into his black raven eyes. "Sasuke-kun. . ." For some reason, they couldn't break out of staring at each others eyes. The world around them seemed to stand still at that moment. Sakura's heart thumped loudly. _I want to tell Sasuke-kun. . . how much I care for him. . . I don't want him to think of me as some nosy fan girl. . . I want him to really know that. . . I love him. . . is now the time? _"Sasuke-kun. . . I. . . I. . .-"

"What are you two doing?" a voice suddenly said suspiciously, scaring the wits out of both Sasuke and Sakura. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the two of them. Sasuke quickly released his hands from Sakura's foot and backed away from her by a foot once he stood up.

"Nothing," Sakura stated. "Sasuke-kun was just examining how badly injured my ankle is, that's all." Kakashi raised his eyebrow even higher at that. Uchiha Sasuke, out of all people, was examining someone's injuries?

Kakashi then turned his face to Sasuke's direction. The first thing he noticed that stood out was that both his cheeks were pink. Sasuke, noticing his sensei staring at him weirdly, turned away from both Kakashi and Sakura. Kakashi looked like he was going to say some more, but then shrugged and took out "Come Come Paradise" with his right hand. He held an ice pack in his left hand.

"Sakura, wrap this around your ankle," he said, handing the ice pack to her. Sakura nodded and did so.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Look what I got you!" Naruto ran out of the store, carrying three cans of soda.

"Thanks Naruto," Sakura said as she reached out a hand to get the soda. "Oh, I'll give this one to Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun! Naruto got you a soda!" Sasuke lifted his head up at that and walked back to retrieve his drink from Sakura. Their fingers touched as the soda can was passed from Sakura to Sasuke, but neither one took notice of it during that time. The three then sat on the wooden bench, sipping on their ice cold sodas while Kakashi paid no attention to them, for he was too involved in the plot of "Come Come Paradise".

"Say, Kakashi Sensei?" Sakura suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"Didn't you mention a few days ago that they're going to have a dance or something?"

"I did?" Kakashi lifted a hand to his chin. "Oh yes! I did."

"What dance?" Naruto and Sasuke both said at once. Kakashi cleared his throat once before continuing on.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. According to the fifth Hokage's orders, all the students which had graduated from the academy and all the teachers are expected to attend this dance. Tsunade-sama wishes for us to have some fun and to congratulate those who have graduated and have done missions for Konoha." Kakashi flipped a page in his book.

"No thanks," Sasuke immediately said, crossing his arms.

"Is there going to be food there?" Naruto asked anxiously.

"Yes. It's a dinner and dance thing," Kakashi murmured. "Oh yes, all students MUST go to this event. So you can't back out of this one, Sasuke."

"What?"

"Everyone has to go. Even we jounins have to go too," Kakashi muttered.

"Damn it," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, as she moved the ice pack onto the other side of her ankle. "Do we just go there as our team or by ourselves?"

"Tsunade-sama says that all students are expected to go with a partner of the opposite gender."

"WHAT?!" Both Naruto and Sasuke exclaimed at once.

"But what I can't find anyone to go with?" Sakura asked again.

"Nonsense. I doubt that will ever happen. If it does happen, then the jounins fix you up with someone else who does not have a partner, and you will probably be stuck with someone you don't like for the rest of the night. So find a partner of the opposite gender to go with and the dance is in two days. It will be held at the academy's gymnasium and will take place at 7:00 pm. Please be on time."

"Speak for yourself," Naruto murmured.

"Now then, shall we be off?" Kakashi asked as he picked up his backpack and started walking down the road, reading his perverted book the whole time.

"Hey! Wait up!" Naruto yelled as he tried to finish up his soda.

"There." Sakura had tied a medical tape around the ice pack so that it would stay on her ankle. She put her shoe into her backpack. Sasuke handed his backpack to Naruto, and waited for Sakura.

"Hey! Hey! Sasuke!" Naruto hissed under a hushed voice as Sasuke passed him his backpack.

"What?"

"Can you let me carry Sakura back?" Sasuke wasn't surprised that Naruto had asked him this. He glanced at Sakura and whispered back a reply.

"Why would you want to do that? We're almost there anyhow."

"Cause I want to ask her to the stupid dance thingy while I'm carrying her back, and since you have no feelings for her what so ever, why not hand her to me, so then I take her to the dance?" Naruto grinned widely, cheeks red. Sasuke stared at him as if he was some idiot. He understood what Naruto was getting at: he had wanted to carry Sakura so then Sakura would be grateful that he was doing her a favour and would gladly agree to go to the dance with him. He knew very well that he could just let Naruto do that, but for some unknown reason, his heart stubbornly pulled at him, as if it didn't want Naruto to take Sakura to the dance. Sasuke stared into Naruto's eyes.

"Sorry, but Kakashi assigned me to carry Sakura all the way back to Konoha, and that's what I'm going to do."

"WH-what?" Naruto stuttered. "Hey, wait Sasuke!" he called as Sasuke walked back to Sakura and with a heave, carried her on his back piggy-back style.

"Thanks Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. "Hey, Naruto! Can you carry my back pack for me? Thanks!" Sakura handed her back pack to Naruto, who was still pouting angrily like a noisy duck.

"Argh! C'mon Sasuke! Please?"

"No. . ."

"Please? I'll find you someone for the dance!"

"I don't need you to. . . I can already hear my-" Sasuke shivered at this word- "_fan club_ asking me to the dance, though I hardly doubt I would want to go with anyone in that demented club. . ."

"I. . . I'll be your slave for the week!"

"Nice try, but no way."

"For a month?"

"In your dreams, moron. . ."

"A year?"

"Excuse me, Sakura," Sasuke said as he stopped and put her down.

"Huh?"

There was a loud BANG! Then a loud scream.

Sasuke cracked his knuckles. Then, picked up Sakura again and continued walking down the road, with Kakashi a metre ahead of him and Naruto stuck in a hole in the ground with a black eye.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said as she glanced behind her at the poor and swollen Naruto. "Was that necessary?"

". . . . . . You won't understand."

"Oh. I see." _I want to ask Sasuke-kun to take me to the dance, but I doubt he would want to take me to it. I don't want to force him to take me to the dance either, cause then he'll think of me as some annoying nosy fan girl for the rest of his life. Maybe . . . maybe I should go with someone else instead so that he won't think of me this way . . . but I really don't want to. . . What if he's planning to ask someone else to the dance? Maybe I'll ask him about that. _

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Who are you planning to go to the dance with?"

". . . . . . . ." Sasuke continued walking in silence. Actually, he was thinking about what Sakura had just asked him. Out of all the girls in his academy, who would he want to go with most?

"I'm not sure yet," he answered. There was silence for a few minutes before he spoke up again. "I know this is none of my business, but who are you planning to go with?" Sasuke said, trying not to sound like he was curious.

"Oh? Me? I don't know yet. I definitely do not want to go with Naruto-"

"Please! Sakura-chan! Will you go to the dance with me?!" Naruto pleaded, as he ran and caught up with Sasuke and Sakura.

"No you idiot! You're stupid, dumb, and even though you're sometimes nice, there's NO WAY I'm going to the dance with you!" Sakura yelled back.

"Hey! Hey!" Kakashi shouted, his voice hovering their bickering conversation. He was getting pissed at not being able to read in peace. "Why can't we walk peacefully and quietly for once? Settle down. We're almost there."

_Wah!!!!! Sakura-chan doesn't want to go to the dance with me,_ Naruto thought sadly. _Then who am I supposed to ask to the dance then?_

_Damn, I still have to find a partner for this stupid dance. Screw whoever thought of this stupid dance anyhow,_ Sasuke thought in frustration. _But then, who should I ask?_

"Yea! We're almost there!" Sakura piped up cheerfully, as she pointed ahead. The sign, Konoha Village, greeted them as they neared the Hidden Village of the Leaf.

"Yes! Ramen, here I come!" Naruto cheered as he ran towards the opened doors to the village.

The moment they went inside, a bunch of girls rushed at Sasuke, who was still piggy-backing Sakura. They immediately began asking him to the dance and bickering at each other.

"Sasuke-kun, will you go to the dance with me?"

"No, Sasuke-kun's going with me!"

"In your dreams! Sasuke-kun's going with me, you dope!" Pretty soon, Sasuke had to escape them by jumping on top of the roofs of houses due to the fact that all the girls were starting cat-fights with each other. Sakura hung onto Sasuke as he leapt up and down. Naruto and Kakashi were right in front of them. Finally, they stopped at Naruto's favourite ramen stop.

"Hey old man! Please fix me up a bowl of BBQ pork ramen!" Naruto said, as he immediately sat down on the stools. Sasuke however, with Sakura still on his back, was looking back to make sure none of his annoying fan club was following him. He was lucky this time that no one could.

"Okay then. Remember, there will be no missions tomorrow, and the dance is in two days," Kakashi reminded them as he helped Sakura down from Sasuke and onto a stool. "Oh, and I do suggest you start asking people before they get asked by someone else." Poof! Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Darn that Kakashi," Sasuke grumbled as he sat next to Sakura, taking out a handkerchief and wiping his forehead.

"We still have to find partners too," Sakura sighed.

"Where am I supposed to find someone who would go to the dance with me?" Naruto wondered out loud, as he put down his chopsticks.

"Oy! Naruto!" It was Shikamaru and Chouji. The two sat down next to Naruto. "Who you going to the dance with?"

"I don't know," Naruto answered. "But I want to go with Sakura-ch-"

"NO WAY, you idiot!" Sakura yelled back.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun! There you are!" It was Ino. She quickly put her arms around Sasuke's neck tightly, while Sasuke was saying, "Can you let go of me?"

"Sasuke-kun, do you have a partner yet for the dance?" Ino asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes. "If you don't, then I can always be your date for the night-"

"Ino-pig! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked with clenched teeth.

"Ah, forehead girl! I didn't even notice you were here," Ino said, as she finally let go of Sasuke. "No doubt you haven't even found a date yet for the dance."

"Well, at least I don't go around trying to wring people's heads off just so they'll go to the dance with me," Sakura said as she adjusted her ice pack to her foot.

"But of course, Sasuke-kun's definitely going to the dance with me. Compare to you, I'm way skinnier than you, I have shinier hair, and my forehead ain't as big yours," Ino mocked sarcastically.

"Why you- OW!" Sakura had forgotten that she had twisted her ankle. She had attempted to stand up but now, shrivelled on the floor clutching her ankle. Sasuke looked down to her.

_Sakura . . ._ he thought to himself. _She must be still in pain. I guess she can't recover that fast._

He stretched out a hand and extended it towards her. Surprised, Sakura reluctantly took it and tried to stand up.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, worriedly. He got down from his stool, and despite the fact that Sakura had rejected him, helped her up.

"Thanks, Naruto and Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, as she let go of Sasuke's large hand.

"Ino," Sasuke said, glaring at her direction. "No offence, but you talk way too much. Even for a girl."

"Sasuke-kun-" Ino started to say.

"I don't want to go to the dance with you. Go find somebody else." With that, he grabbed their backpacks from Naruto, handed them to Sakura, lifted her onto his back and leapt up from the Ramen shop to one of the rooftops of a nearby building. He disappeared within seconds.

Shikamaru sighed. "Ino, must you force him into making a decision like that? He doesn't even like you. Besides, most of us guys don't judge a girl by her physical appearance."

Ino sighed. "Guess I'll have to find someone else. Say," she suddenly said, staring at Shikamaru. "Did you find someone to go to the dance yet?"

"No. It's too troublesome going up to a girl and asking her to that troublesome dance," he murmured.

"Well, how bout going to it with me?"

"With you?" _How troublesome_, he thought in his head. But secretly, he was glad Ino actually asked him. "Okay then. You better not back out on me or else I'll have to find some other troublesome person to go to the dance with."

"I won't. Don't worry, you can trust me."

_Right . . . ,_ everyone else thought immediately in their heads.

Meanwhile, Sakura hung onto Sasuke as he leapt up and down the rooftops.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked when he dropped down to the ground and began to walk.

"Hm?"

"Where are we going?"

"Well, don't you want to go home?"

"Well . . . yes. But do you know where I live?"

"Not really. Maybe around this area or something?"

"Yeah. It is actually. Just keep going down the road." They passed a lot of people along the road. Some stared at them with looks on their faces which read: "Aw. . . How cute." They were almost near Sakura's house when suddenly, Rock Lee spotted them.

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay?" he asked in concern as he ran over to the duo.

"Hey Lee! I just sprained my ankle, that's all. Sasuke's just helping me get home, that's all." Sasuke looked up at Lee, glaring at him. Sure he respected him as one of the best fighters he'd ever met, but for some reason, he tensed up whenever Lee talked to Sakura. Today was no exception.

"Do you need any help, Sasuke-"

"I'll be fine, thank you," Sasuke said, cutting him off.

"Oh. Okay then. Say, Sakura-chan, I've been meaning to ask you: will you go to the dance with me?" With that, he pulled out a beautiful red rose and held it out to Sakura. Sasuke's brows almost unconsciously furrowed.

_You idiot,_ he told himself. _Stop acting as if you actually care, Uchiha._ He felt Sakura's hand release his neck and watched it stretch out to receive the flower. He could hear her giggling.

"Why Lee, this is beautiful!"

"For you, my angel. Even though you may not go with me to the dance, this is my present to you."

"Thank you , Lee. I don't know yet if I can go to the dance with you. Let me consider it first, if you know what I mean." Lee looked at Sakura, then looked at Sasuke's cold face, and got the picture. _Sasuke must want to ask her to the dance too,_ he thought. _I'm willing to make a sacrifice, for I respect Sasuke. Besides, this guy ought to have some fun in his life for once._

Sasuke noticed Lee staring at him and turned his face away. "Okay then," Lee answered Sakura. "Please, tell me by tomorrow, my angel! Hope your ankle will recover soon!"

"Thank you, Lee! I'll see you soon," Sakura called as Sasuke began to walk again.

"Good bye, Sakura-chan!" Lee waved as he headed down the opposite direction. Sasuke continued to walk down. For some unknown reason, he had a hard time concentrating on what to do for his training once he got home. That scenery of Lee handing Sakura the flower and Sakura accepting it just kept bouncing back into his mind and replaying itself over and over again.

_Uchiha . . . Remember the training, _he told himself. _I have to train to grow stronger, so that I may avenge my clan by killing Uchiha Itachi. I don't even have time for this stupid dance, so I don't even care who I go with. _

The annoying fan club memory hit him in the head.

_On second thought, I do. Sort of. But who? _

"Sasuke-kun, it's this way," Sakura suddenly said, pointing to Sasuke's left.

Turning, Sasuke felt Sakura's hands on his neck once again. Before, he had hated it whenever she had tried to touch him. One of the facts was that every other girl also wanted to touch his handsome face too, and he just couldn't stand it when their obsessive hands reached forward at him every time they saw him. He'd also hated it when she tried to make contact with him by helping or looking after him, because, after all, he was a man. And when you're a man, you're supposed to be the one who helps or looks after those who are weaker than you, not the one who gets looked after. Sure he knew how much Sakura had wanted to help him, but to have her help him like that so publicly would only embarrass him and make him look like a wimp.

But now, he didn't mind as much about those hands touching him anymore. Just as long as she didn't tried to hug him all the time.

Sakura observed the back of Sasuke's head as he continued to carry her through down the street. _I've been thinking in a way that's so naïve when Kakashi Sensei first told us about this dance. I had wanted Sasuke-kun to take me to the dance at first this morning just because I liked him, but I never considered how Sasuke-kun actually might feel about this if I asked him. I doubt he'll feel comfortable if I ever asked him to take me out to the dance like this and I don't want to put him on the spot either. But I don't want him to be so lonely either. Maybe I could ask him if he would like to go to the dance with me just as friends so then he wouldn't be so lonely all the time instead of asking him to take me there just because I like him. Well, even if he doesn't like me that way at all, I don't want him to be so lonely like that. He's kind of gotten used to me to, so I'm sure he won't mind if we just go to the dance as friends. Besides, Kakashi Sensei never said anything about going with a friend to the dance. _

"Which number?" Sasuke finally spoke up.

"256."

". . . . . ."

"Sasuke-kun, you know, you don't have to carry me all this way. Kakashi-sensei only assigned you to carry me back to Konoha, not to my house."

"Well, you can barely stand, so how do you expect to go home like this?"

"Well . . . uh . . . guess you're right." Sasuke could feel Sakura's breath suddenly next to his ear. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she whispered.

_Did she suddenly get the impression that I actually wanted to carry her home or something?_ Sasuke suddenly thought in panic.

"Hm . . ."

The two remained silent. Only Sasuke's moving footsteps were heard. Finally, they arrived in front of Sakura's house. Sasuke noticed how clean it was from the outside.

"Here, why don't you let me down?" Sakura said.

"Okay." Sasuke slowly descended to the ground and Sakura stood up unbalanced. She kept a hand on Sasuke's shoulder for support once he stood up and took out her keys from her pocket.

"My mom's not home, so I'll have to manage my ankle by myself for now."

"Here, I'll carry your bag," Sasuke offered. Sakura released her hand from his shoulder.

"Thank you." Placing a hand against the doorway, Sakura unlocked the door and peered inside. It was pretty quiet. She hopped in on one foot, and used the walls for support.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. I wouldn't have made it back if it weren't for you," she said as she took the bag from Sasuke.

"Hm. . ." Sasuke answered, as he glanced at her. Sakura noticed that he had an uncertain expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Are you sure you can take care of yourself like this?" he asked, eyebrows slightly raised. His voice had just a slight hint of sarcasm at the end.

"Are you saying I'm weak?" she asked.

". . . . . Never mind. I'm going home. Remember to ice that ankle." He turned around and started down the steps. Sakura felt her heart pounding, and yelled back, "Wait!"

Sasuke stopped and turned around. "What now?"

"I. . . I was wondering, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said as she held onto the doorpost, her eyes down. Sasuke waited. Sakura looked back up. "I know you'll probably say no, but would you like to go to the dance with me just as a friend? We don't have to dance or anything and it's the least I can do for you for carrying me back to my home. I know you don't have a partner yet, s-so . . . would you like to go with me?" Sasuke looked down, and turned around so that his back was towards her. Sakura almost felt her heart crumble when she saw him turn around. _He's going to say No, I just know it. And then, afterwards, he'll probably never want to have anything to do with me again. What is it that he doesn't like about me? Is it because I'm who I am?_

Sakura could feel her eyes tearing and quickly wiped them with her hand. _I should have never asked him in the first place,_ she thought miserably. _Maybe if I didn't ask him, then my heart wouldn't be broken and we could have just been friends instead._

She saw Sasuke's shoulders heave up as he let out a sigh after 20 seconds. Finally, he muttered something. But Sakura couldn't hear because his voice was so quiet.

"Pardon me?"

"I said, what time?"

"W-what do you mean what time?"

"I mean what time should I pick you up?" he said a bit louder this time, not turning around. Sakura's gaping mouth slowly broke into a smile as she realized what he was saying.

"You mean, you'll go with me-"

"Hey, I'm only going with you as a friend, remember? That's what you said. Besides, I don't want my annoying fan club to go around stalking me for the next few days just so they can ask me if I can go with them to the dance." Sasuke didn't dare turn around. "So do you want me to come with you or not—"

"Yes. Yes I do. I _do_ want you to come with me, please," Sakura said, her voice lowering as tears of happiness suddenly cornered her eyes. "Sasuke-kun, I won't annoy you. I . . . won't force you to dance with me-"

"Sakura," he said. "What time am I coming to get you?"

"Oh. Um . . . the dance starts at 7:00, so why don't you come over at 6:30, so then we can get there early and talk to people before we go in?"

"Okay. See you then." Sasuke walked down the rest of the porch steps and walked down the street, leaving Sakura staring after him.

_Thank you, Sasuke-kun . . ._

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_WHY THE HELL DID I JUST DO THAT?_ Sasuke thought to himself as he walked down the road away from Sakura's house. Sure she was his team mate and she wasn't getting to be as annoying as when he first met her, but still, he couldn't believe that he just agreed to go with her to the dance.

_ Honestly, I have no time to even think about stupid dances, but thanks to the fifth Hokage, I have to go to it. The only thing good so far is that Sakura agreed to go with me to it as a friend, which means I don't have to get stalked by the stupid fan club and I probably won't have to dance with her. But . . ._

A sudden flash back of his hand brushing past Sakura's when she passed the can of soda to him appeared in his mind. Then there was that same scenario of Lee asking Sakura to the dance. And now, the conversation of her asking him to the dance replayed itself once more in his head.

When he realized what he'd been thinking of just that moment, Sasuke shook his head in frustration, anger flooding his mind.

_Why . . . Why do I keep thinking about her?! I mean, she's only a team mate and well, I could consider her as a friend, but . . . dammit! Uchiha, stop thinking about Sakura for now and start training! She's not **that** important to you anyhow. _

Sasuke turned to the right of the road and continued on home.

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_CRAP! I have to find someone to go with me to the dance and quick!_ Naruto thought as he ran about. He knew that Ino was going with Shikamaru and that Sakura was never going to go with him anyhow, so who was he left with?

_Well, there's always Ten-Ten, but I hardly even talk to her and she IS another Sasuke worshipper. Besides, she's probably already taken. Then who am I –_

Naruto stopped when he saw Hinata standing in front of a shop with Kiba and Shino. _Of course! Why didn't I think of it earlier? I'd better act fast! It's now or never!_

Running as quickly as he could, Naruto headed for Hinata, who happened to be talking to Kiba at the moment face to face, and blindly tripped over a banana peel which just happened to lie in front of him on the ground. Naruto went flying, and crashed into Kiba, knocking them both to the floor. Akamaru barked at Naruto. Hinata, who had been holding Akamaru, blushed when she realized that Naruto was lying in front of him.

"Naruto-kun, are you-" Before Hinata could go on, Naruto quickly stood on one knee (proposing style), put his hands in a praying mode, and said very loudly, "Hinata, will you go to the dance with me?"

"Naruto, you idiot!" Kiba pounded him on the head with one of his fists. "_I_ was going to ask her to the dance!"

"Sorry, but I asked her first!" Naruto said, grinning. Shino just sighed.

Hinata didn't hear a word Kiba said. The only words that kept replaying itself over and over again in her mind were: _"Hinata, will you go to the dance with me?"_

_Naruto-kun, I can't believe you actually asked me to accompany you to the dance. I just can't believe it! Maybe this is a dream . . ._

Hinata pinched herself, and winced at the pain. It wasn't a dream! It really happened. Her face turned scarlet red and her heart thumped loudly. She tried to remain as calm as possible as she looked down at the face of her crush. He was still down on one knee, as if he was proposing!

"So, Hinata, wanna go with me?" Naruto asked again.

"Uh . . . uh . . . o . . . ok-kay. Y-yes, I d-d-d-do." Hinata quickly looked down, trying to hide her scarlet face. Kiba stood up in defeat as Shino observed the extremely embarrassed Hinata.

"YES! Thank you, Hinata!" Naruto shouted, as he stood up and pumped a fist in the air. He had finally successfully found a partner. "C'mon, I'll treat you to some ramen just because you've agreed to go with me!" With that, he grabbed Hinata's wrist as Akamaru jumped back onto Kiba's head and together, they ran down the road to the ramen bar. Kiba and Shino stared after them.

"Well, so much for asking Hinata," Kiba sighed. "Do YOU have a partner yet?" Shino shook his head. Kiba sighed, then suddenly came up with an idea.

"You want to go with my cousin? I'll go with yours."

"This IS just a cover up, right?"

"Yes. Nothing personal. We just need to have someone to go with, that's all. Besides, my cousin knows your cousin, and we'll just hang out."

"Okay." Shino gave in. He was out of ideas.

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Neji stretched as he stood up. He had been training for the past 3 hours with Ten-Ten. She had been placing objects in the bushes around him and he was to tell her how many objects were hidden. Then, he was meditating while she was throwing her kunais at targets. Ten-Ten had gotten better at her aim and her speed was improving too. After that, he worked on his own Taijutsu moves while she did some drills. Finally, the two sat in the shade under a tree, tired.

Ten-Ten wiped her forehead with a handkerchief as Neji drank some water from one of the water bottles Ten-Ten had brought.

"It's so hot today," she sighed, fanning herself with one hand.

"I know," Neji answered. They sat in silence for almost a minute, before Neji spoke.

"Say, Ten-Ten?"

"Yes?"

"You know that stupid dance Gai told us about?"

"Uh-huh."

"You found a partner yet?"

"No. Not yet. I was too busy practicing my new move that I haven't had the time to ask anyone yet. Have you found a partner yet?"

"No."

Ten-Ten stole a glance at Neji when he drank water from his bottle again. She had been noticing for quite some time how fine his features were, and how much closer they've gotten as friends ever since they first met. _I wonder who he wants to go the dance with._

"Say, Ten-Ten?"

"Yeah?"

"You . . . you don't have a partner right?"

"No. Why?"

"Oh nothing."

_Huh?_ Ten-Ten raised her eyebrows at that. Neji cleared his throat this time and looked down at the floor.

"Ten-Ten, do you . . . do you want to go with me to the dance as my partner?"

"Huh? With you?" Ten-Ten asked, trying to see if she had heard him right. Neji turned to look at her this time and she felt her cheeks growing warm.

"Yeah. Since you don't have a partner, I just thought I'd ask you, that's all. If you really don't want to go with me, then that's . . . that's alright-"

"Actually, yes, I'll go with you. I don't want to go with Lee and since you DO need a partner, I'll go with you." Ten-Ten felt her heart flutter as she tried to breathe calmly. Neji had just asked HER to the dance!!

"Okay then. Thank you. When should I pick you up?"

"Doesn't matter. Do you know where I live though?"

"Uh . . . I think Gai mentioned it once before, but I don't quite remember."

"Oh. I'll just show you then. C'mon. I'll lead you to my house."

"Uh . . . whatever. . ." Neji stood up and walked next to Ten-Ten as she started walking down the road. Needless to say, Ten-Ten was trying her best to stop smiling at the thought of Neji dancing with her under the moonlight.

They continued walking down, until they passed by the ramen bar. Neji stopped when he saw Hinata, who was sitting next to Naruto.

"Ten-Ten, this won't take long," he told her. "I'm just going to check up on Hinata-san."

"Huh? Oh, okay." Neji smiled at Ten-Ten, then turned and walked towards where his cousin was. Ten-Ten could only stare dreamily at him.

"Hello, Hinata-sama."

"Huh? Neji-niisan, how are you?" Hinata bowed humbly to show her respect as Neji spotted Naruto.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Hinata once she straightened up.

"Oh. Um . . . you s-see, Naruto-kun a-asked me to join him for lunch, and I j-just thought that I would-"

"Oy Neji!" Naruto shouted, looking up from his delicious lunch.

"Naruto, are you taking Hinata to the dance?"

"YES!"

"In that case, you'd better look after her, 'cause if she gets hurt, I'll see to it that you get punished."

"Neji-niisan . . ." Hinata whispered, pulling at her cousin's sleeve. "It's okay. I won't get hurt."

Neji shot Naruto a glare, and then said, "Okay then. But you'd better take care of Hinata-sama."

"Don't worry, man! You can bet on it!"

"Are you going to stay around him for the rest of the day?" Neji asked Hinata. "I'm going to Ten-Ten's house right now."

"Huh?" That thought hadn't occurred to her: hanging out with Naruto all the day.

"Don't worry! I'm free all day!" Naruto cut in again. "I can hang out with Hinata today. That's if she's not busy today."

"Oh, no, I'm not busy," Hinata murmured. Neji noticed her blushing face and smiled to himself.

"Naruto, can you take Hinata home then?"

"Huh? Oh, sure!"

"Have fun," he murmured under his breath to Hinata.

"Thank you, Neji-niisan." Hinata thought that Neji was going to take her back home that moment, but instead, he had actually let her stay with Naruto – for the whole day!

"Oh yeah! Neji, are you going to the dance with Ten-Ten?"

"Um . . . yeah . . ." Walking quickly away from Naruto before he could ask anymore, Neji walked back to Ten-Ten and the two continued down the road.

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"Dammit! What's wrong with me?" Sasuke muttered to himself as he took off his head band and flopped onto his bed. The mattress bounced and settled in a bit later as Sasuke crossed his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. The only thing that he could not get out of his head was: Sakura. Sure he had thought of her once or twice before, but never like the way he was thinking of her now.

"Why can't I get her out of my head? Girls are only weaknesses in a man's life, so why can't I forget her?!" Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration. "Maybe I'll think clearer when I wake up tomorrow." Switching off the light switch, Sasuke buried his head under the covers, and after tossing and turning for at least an hour, he fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day, he covered his head in misery and confusion.

_What's wrong with me? Am I weaker than I thought?_

When Sasuke had fallen asleep last night, he had dreamed that he was dancing with Sakura under the moonlight. And he was wrapping his arms around her _lovingly_.

Please review! )


	2. Ch2 Feelings

-0-My Sakura-0- 

Wow! I would have never expected so many reviews on my first chapter! THANK YOU!! I'll try to do my best!

Please Enjoy!

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Sakura woke up the next day, her ankle even more swollen than the day before. She had tried to ice it down, and yes, even though the ankle didn't swell as badly as it could have, it still hurt.

Sighing, she glanced at her pink alarm clock. 9:45 am. _OH NO! I slept in!_ Then as she flung her covers aside, she suddenly remembered that Kakashi had told them that they would have no missions today.

Flopping back onto her bed, Sakura suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday. She had sprained her ankle on the way back,_ Sasuke_ had carried her back on his back, and then there was all the chaos and madness about the dance which everyone was FORCED to attend.

Then it hit her: **Sasuke had agreed to be her partner for the dance!**

"Oh my! I still have to find a dress!" Slowly but carefully getting up, Sakura limped towards her closet. Opening it, she found a couple of casual dresses, those which she usually wore everyday, and her kimono.

Taking out each outfit at a time, Sakura studied each of them carefully before tossing them to one side on her bed. _Too loose . . . hm . . . A bit too casual . . . Nope. Too small . . . It doesn't fit me anymore. So why on earth did I still keep it here?. . Hm . . . Way too formal . . . hm . . . The kimono's too fancy and formal for something like this . . . What? That's it? No more dresses?_ Sakura looked around in the closet, moving aside old cardboard boxes and shoe boxes. Empty coat hangers hung onto the closet bar. Sighing, she closed the closet door and leaned against it.

"Guess I should buy a new one," she considered. "Since tomorrow is the dance, I should hurry." She looked down at her swollen ankle and tried to move it. It still hurt a lot, but it should be better by tomorrow.

She hopped back to her bed and spotted a roll of medicine tape on her dresser. Picking it up, she wrapped it firmly around her ankle and tucked in the ends. After carefully testing her leg on the floor, she stood up. It didn't hurt as much now.

_I'm going to have to take it easy today,_ she thought as she found her wallet and put it in her shoulder bag. With that, she walked slowly down the stairs and finally left her house.

Sakura walked down the street, trying to ignore the slight pain in her ankle. As she turned at the corner of the street, she thought back of what had happened the day before.

_"I . . . I was wondering, Sasuke-kun. I know you'll probably say no, but would you like to go to the dance with me as a friend? We don't have to dance or anything and it's the least I can do for you for carrying me back to my home. I know you don't have a partner yet, s-so . . . would you like to go with me?" _

He had looked down and turned around at that. Sakura had almost immediately regretted asking him once she saw his reaction. Sure she liked him and all, but if she was going to lose Sasuke like this, then she would rather stay being friends with him than lose him due to this conversation. What surprised her the most was his answer:

_"Pardon me?" she had said when she couldn't hear his reply. _

_"I said, what time?" _

He had actually agreed to go with her.

_Sasuke-kun . . . I won't embarrass you in anyway, but I want you to know how much I care for you. I really do, Sasuke-kun. But . . . just how would YOU react to me once I tell you, Sasuke-kun? What if . . . what if you never look my way again—_

"Sakura!"

"Huh?" Turning around, Sakura was very surprised to see Ino walking up to her. What was even more surprising was that Ino hadn't called her 'forehead girl', but Sakura. "Ino, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm looking for a new dress!"

"Oh. Me too." Rather awkwardly, the two walked side by side.

"Is it true?" Ino asked her suddenly.

"Is what true?"

"That Sasuke-kun is going to the dance with YOU! Is it true?"

"Well, why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Well, is it?" Ino glanced at Sakura again enviously.

"So what if it is?" Sakura answered back, turning her head to look at the shops.

"So it's true?" Ino questioned her again. Sakura was starting to get annoyed by her ex-best friend.

"Yes! It's true!" Sakura said loudly. Some people passing by stared at her. "But . . . we're only going as friends. He's probably going to ignore me for the entire dance."

_Damn! Why is she always the lucky one?_ Ino thought enviously. "You're still lucky though!" she muttered angrily under her breath. The two stayed silent. After a minute of silence, Sakura turned to Ino.

"Ino, who are you going with to the dance?" she asked.

"Huh? Me? Oh! I'm going with Shikamaru."

"Shikamaru? He actually asked you?"

"No. I asked him, since he found it too troublesome to go up to girls and ask them to the dance. And he is –" Ino suddenly felt her cheeks going hot. "--one of my t-team mates."

_Why am I blushing? This is only Shikamaru I'm talking about, not Sasuke-kun!_

"Oh. I see." Sakura turned her head again and stopped. Beside her was a clothing store. "I'm going to go into this shop."

"Okay. I'll go too." Just like old times, the two walked in together as if they were best friends. The events of what had happened between them the day before ceased from their memories.

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BAM!

Sasuke stood up, panting. The tree in front of him collapsed. Huge holes formed by his Chidori had caused it to collapse. Smoke rose from the fallen tree.

He had been training for almost 4 hours now. First he had practiced his Taijutsu moves, then he did some simple Ninjutsu moves and finally, after taking a break, he had practiced with his Chidori. Now, he sat under a tree in the shade, trying to catch his breath and regain chakra.

_Damn, I'm still not strong enough!_ Sasuke thought angrily as he stared at the half melted tree. _How am I supposed to defeat Itachi in this state? _

He angrily punched the ground with a fist in frustration. _Why am I not as strong as he is? What does he have that I don't? Is something here affecting my capabilities?_

An image of Sakura suddenly popped into his mind.

_"Sasuke-kun, you know, you don't have to carry me all this way," she had said yesterday when he was carrying her on his back to her house. "Kakashi-sensei only assigned you to carry me back to Konoha, not to my house."_

_"Well, you can barely stand, so how do you expect to go home like this?" he had responded back, implying the fact that she was weak. _

_"Well . . . uh . . . guess you're right." It was then did he feel her breath next to his ear. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." _

He had felt all so awkward when he heard her say those words. That feeling . . . it was so . . . so strange.

_"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." _

Those words just stood out to him from one whom he had never paid much attention to until recently. Then there was that . . . that dream.

Sasuke had felt so sickened when he woke up to realize what he had been dreaming all night. Usually, he slept dreamless nights away and only very so often nowadays did he get a nightmare about his parents' death or his brother killing him. But . . . to have a dream about . . . a girl ? . . . Sakura? . . . this was a first.

What worried, or rather scared him the most was the fact that he had been dancing with her under the moonlight in his dream. And he had been wrapping his arms around her lovingly.

_--around HER lovingly—_

He shuddered and stood up, teeth clenched. Sharingan appeared in both his eyes.

_WHY CAN'T I STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS!!?!? _ Sasuke charged up his Chidori and in one move demolished another tree. The tree split in half and wood chips flew in the air. Sasuke looked up, breathless once again. His Sharingan shone in the light of the sun.

"Ow!" Groaning, he clutched his arm as a sharp pain ran through it like the blade of a knife. He had used too much power in the last Chidori attack. His arm trembled and his muscles ached with pain as he kneeled down. Cursing, Sasuke looked up again at the tree.

_Uchiha, forget about her! Besides, it was just a dream. And dreams mean nothing! It has nothing to do with reality either. It's only . . . it's only . . . a coincidence. That's all! It's not even . . . fantasizing . . . If you were to have a good dream, it would be to defeat Itachi! Not about Sakura! . . . Yesterday night was only a coincidence. So focus on your target and your only goal, Uchiha! That's your only way to succeed in life. . ._

Standing up, Sasuke clutched his arm. The pain had lessened, but he knew he had to rest. He had wasted too much chakra and he knew it.

_Might as well go home,_ he thought as he walked out of the forest he had been training in. Even though he forced himself to think of avenging his clan by killing his only sibling, Sasuke's mind unconsciously kept wandering back to the dream he had of him and Sakura dancing together.

He did not even notice that Kakashi had been watching him for the past half hour behind a few trees in the forest.

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Kakashi sighed as he watched his student walk away frustrated and confused.

_Sasuke . . . I guess even a guy like you has emotions somewhere in that cold heart of yours, right?, _he thought as he took out "Come Come Paradise". _It's not like you can hide yourself like this forever, despite your only goal in life. _

The jounin waited for 15 minutes before he too exited the forest.

_Eventually, he'll realize that he may have to choose between his life here in Konoha and his life of revenge against Itachi. That is, if he decides to continue on living like this. _

Kakashi looked up at the clear sky, noticing how peaceful it looked today. Birds were chirping in the trees while flowers were gently blowing in the breeze. A single pink flower stood out in a patch of white flowers as it swayed with the direction of the wind.

_It's possible that Sasuke may be able to live a life with Sakura if he decides to stay here, but if he chooses to still kill Itachi, that just might never happen. That's what makes the dance so interesting,_ Kakashi thought as he stared at the pink flower. _I wonder what he'll do . . . _

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Ten-Ten walked down the road, carrying a shopping bag. She had just bought a new dress and was feeling rather good about it.

Her mom had let her buy a new dress as an early birthday present, which made Ten-Ten extremely happy. Once she had entered one of the clothing stores, she had run into Sakura and Ino, who were also getting new dresses. She was actually surprised to see the two of them not bickering at each other for once ever since they were no longer friends. Pretty soon, the three of them were searching around for dresses, giving each other advice.

Finally, Ten-Ten had found a dress which she found rather charming and simple. She decided that this would be the one dress she would have.

By the time she left, after saying goodbye to Ino and Sakura, it was almost noon. She had decided to stop by the ramen bar to get some lunch before she continued on. She was not surprised to find Naruto already there and she was very surprised to find Hinata right next to him.

It turned out that Naruto had invited Hinata to eat lunch with him, since he had an extra free meal pass. Ten-Ten could not help but smile as the extremely shy Hinata blushed whenever Naruto said something to her.

After lunch, she left the two of them alone, and continued on home.

She looked at the birds flying in the air as she walked down the road.

_Neji . . ._

What had happened yesterday was still crystal clear in her mind.

It had started just like any other day would. As usual, she had been training, this time with Neji. Lee and Gai Sensei had gone down to help some people with some heavy equipment, leaving Neji and her alone training.

"_It's so hot today," she had said, when the two of them had sat under the shade of a tree for a break. _

"_I know," he had answered back. It was pretty quiet for almost a minute, before he spoke again. _

_"Say, Ten-Ten?" _

_"Yes?" _

_"You know that stupid dance Gai told us about?" _Gai Sensei had told them of this dance once they had all arrived. She was pretty excited about the fact that they were FINALLY going to do something not-ninja-like, but she was pretty nervous aboutfinding a partner as well. Lee seemed pretty hyped up about the idea too, but Neji had simply grunted.

_She turned back to respond to his question. _

_"Uh-huh." _

_"You found a partner yet?" _

_"No. Not yet. I was too busy practicing my new move that I haven't had the time to ask anyone yet. Have you found a partner yet?" _

Secretly, she had been hoping that he hadn't, so that she might have a chance of asking him if she could be his partner. She was quite relieved when she heard his reply:

_"No." _

She had blown out a sigh of relief in her mind, but it didn't stop her from wondering who he would like to go to the dance with. He spoke up once again.

_"Say, Ten-Ten?" _

_"Yeah?" _

_"You . . . you don't have a partner right?" _

_"No. Why?" _

_"Oh nothing."_ Normally, even a guy like Neji hardly asked HER so much questions concerning her and not about training.

All the questions he had asked her had almost convinced her that Neji was interested to see if she was single and would like to go with him. But she had told herself that this was only HER daydreaming of what her perfect life would be and not reality-wise.

_Besides_, she had told herself, _Neji probably might go for someone prettier than me, like Sakura or perhaps Ino. So I might as well stop convincing myself that he MAY possibly like me and that I MAY possibly have a chance of going with him to the dance. _

What surprised her most was when Neji said to her:

_"Ten-Ten, do you . . . do you want to go with me to the dance as my partner?"_

She had not been expecting him to ask her that at all, which was why she had almost immediately started to blush. Her heart had been pounding against her chest so loudly that she was almost afraid that he might hear it. She had quickly agreed to be his partner, and ever since then, she had been daydreaming countless times of what her perfect night with him at the dance would be.

Ten-Ten smiled as she looked down to the shopping bag in her right hand. _I wonder if he'll like how I look in this,_ she thought as she turned on the corner of the street.

She still considered the fact that he may have only asked her to be his partner just because she didn't have a partner yet and they happened to know each other.

_But if he had only asked me through this perspective, then why did he get so embarrassed or, possibly, shy about asking me? _she thought. _Could it be that, he really does-- . . . nah, I'm probably imagining things again!_

The young ninja continued down the road, before she turned left and arrived at her house.

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_DARN YOU SAKURA!!!! Why are you ALWAYS the lucky one with Sasuke-kun? Why is it NEVER EVER me?! _

Ino kicked a rock from the ground as she walked down the road. Sure Sakura had been her best friend, and despite the fact that they had just shopped together in peace, she was still jealous.

She was in a very miserable mood. Anyone in her position would be. It wasn't just Sakura she was pissed at; it was also Sasuke.

_"Ino, no offence, but you talk way too much. Even for a girl," he had said the day before, when she asked him to be her partner for the dance. _

_"Sasuke-kun-" She about to tell him that she didn't mean those things she had said earlier, which she actually didn't, but he didn't let her have the chance to tell him. _

_"I don't want to go to the dance with you. Go find somebody else." _

Those words had hurt her. It felt as if she had just received a slap in the face. What was worse was that Sakura had been there when he had said those words to her. She really hadn't meant half the things she had said to Sakura. She had only said them so that it would have made her look better compared to Sakura, so that Sasuke would have chosen her instead. But apparently, it only looked as if she was being a bully towards her former best friend.

Ino sighed.

"_Ino, must you force him into making a decision like that? He doesn't even like you." _

_Huh? _Ino paused. Those words sounded so familiar. Who said it? She thought for a while. Then it dawned on her.

_Shikamaru . . . _

He had been on her team, and yes, they've been through a lot of hardships together, especially through the Chunnin Exam. But ever since the Chunnin Exam, they've learned to trust each other just a little bit more.

_I still can't believe I'm going to the dance with that . . . lazy bum! _Ino thought to herself as she continued on home. _But, I guess he's not as bad as I used to think of him. Besides, I've kind of gotten used to him and . . . in a way, I sort of found myself being more comfortable around him than around Sasuke-kun. But . . . why? _

Ino stopped. She didn't know why, but she suddenly found her heart pounding and her cheeks were warm. _Shikamaru . . ._

_"Ino, must you force him into making a decision like that? He doesn't even like you. Besides, most of us guys don't judge a girl by her physical appearance." _

Those words which he had said, had somehow forced her to think about Sasuke-kun less naively. She only held onto her crush for Sasuke because . . . .

_Because . . . because. . . _Ino tried to answer herself. _Well, he's SASUKE-KUN! The hottest guy in school, and also the number one rookie! But is this the only reason why I like him? I mean, I barely even KNOW the guy! _

An image of Shikamaru popped into her head again. That lazy smile of his . . .

_Why does Shikamaru keep appearing in my mind? _Ino realized. She continued walking, carrying her shopping bag and swinging it forwards.

_Could it be . . . could it possibly be that . . . that I've fallen in love with Shikamaru? _

A scarlet blush went through her entire face.

_NO! No way! I mean, HELL NO! That's out of the question! There's no way I could have POSSIBLY f-fallen for a guy like Shikamaru . . . right? _

_"Guess I'll have to find someone else. Say, did you find someone to go to the dance yet?" she had asked Shikamaru the other day. He peered at her before sighing and closing his eyes. _

_"No. It's too troublesome going up to a girl and asking to her to that troublesome dance." _

_"Well, how bout going to it with me?" _

_"With you?" He had paused, as if considering his choices, and then turned back to her. "Okay then. You better not back out on me or else I'll have to find some other troublesome person to go to the dance with." _

Ino looked up from the ground and looked at the sky. The sky was pretty clear, with white clouds in the air.

_He's probably watching them right now,_ Ino thought. She sighed. _Maybe . . . just maybe . . . I like Shikamaru a little more than just a friend. But . . . I doubt he doesn't even have time for girls. _

_Maybe, it's about time I faced reality and realize the fact that Sasuke-kun's never going to be mine. Perhaps I should give up on chasing after him, and start paying a bit more attention to Shikamaru. He may not be as handsome as Sasuke-kun, but at least he's a lot nicer. _

Ino felt just a tiny bit better inside. She smiled.

_I better get home quick before my mom yells at me for being late at the flower shop. _

With that, the blonde continued down the road, with her shopping bag constantly banging against her leg.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hinata came home an hour after noon after having lunch with Naruto. It had been a great day for her so far, since she actually got to eat with NARUTO twice in a row now.

She was actually walking around by herself around noon after training with Kiba and Shino. She wasn't even thinking about eating lunch until she saw Naruto by the ramen bar.

He had immediately greeted her good morning when he spotted her on the road. "HEY HINATA!"

She had instantly blushed like a tomato and greeted him good morning back. Naruto grinned and then beckoned her to come over to where he was.

"OY! Hinata! You want to join me for lunch? I happen to have an extra pass here."

_Sh-should I? I really want to stay with him, but . . . what if Father gets mad at me—_

"Come on Hinata! It'll be my treat!"

"Uh . . . o-okay." She had timidly walked towards him and had sat down next to the excited fox demon boy as a bowl of ramen was placed in front of her, steaming with BBQ pork, some vegetables, small pieces of fish cakes, soup, and lots and lots of noodles (ramen). Hinata watched as Naruto handed over another pass to the chef.

"Th . . . thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Now, now, now! There's no need to thank you! _I_ should be thanking you for being my partner for the dance." He was still happy that she had agreed to be his partner, despite the fact that Sakura had rejected him.

He had then continued on about how everyone, or girl that is, was trying to hunt down Sasuke to ask him to go to the dance with him. But Hinata hadn't heard a single word he had said.

"_Now, now, now! There's no need to thank you! I should be thanking you for being my partner for the dance._" He had been grateful for her being his partner. Hinata had blushed a shade darker, while the chef had noted her face and had chuckled. Naruto however, was still going on and complaining about how Sasuke was nothing but a jerk and that he didn't understand how all the girls could like such an anti-social guy like him.

Finally, after finishing her lunch, she had said a polite thank you to Naruto. She was about to go home when Naruto had asked her, "Oh! What time should I pick you up?"

"Um . . . the dance starts at 7:00. Uh . . . is 6:30 too early for you?"

"6:30? Nah. That's okay. I'll pick you up at 6:30 then."

"Okay. Thank you. D-do you remember how to get to my house?"

"Your house? Oh yes! Don't worry, I'll be on time!" Naruto had once again grinned widely at her, earning him another blush from Hinata.

"Okay then. I'll s-see you t-t-tomorrow. Thank you for the l-lunch."

"Bye Hinata! I'll see you tomorrow!"

With that, she had once again walked down the main road and had turned a few turns before she arrived at the path to her house.

Hinata felt her cheeks warming again for millionth time as she thought back to the things she had done today. _Naruto-kun . . ._

When she arrived home, she could hear from outside within their property that her father and her cousin were fighting each other again.

"Hah!"

"Hy-ah!"

"HAH!"

" . . . HYAH!!"

She spied them through a window, glancing at Neji, who was panting with his forehead glistening with sweat, and her father, who was getting into another battle stance.

_I'd better bring some tea for them_, she thought as she went to the kitchen.

She brought out the tea 5 minutes later when the two had sat down to take a break.

"Thank you, Hinata," her father said as he took a cup and sipped the tea.

"Thanks, Hinata-sama," Neji said quietly (thanks to reviewer 'Random person' who pointed out my mistakes in the first chapter ). Hinata bowed politely and kneeled behind the two men as they talked to each other in a polite manner.

Finally, Hinata's father stood up. "Neji, Hinata, please excuse me while I attend to some business." Hinata nodded and her father nodded back in reply. He then turned to Neji. "I enjoyed fighting you today. Please come by again whenever you have the time."

"Thank you, sir," Neji replied. They both bowed and Neji sat back down while Hinata's father left the two of them alone.

Neji turned around so he could face Hinata, who was currently daydreaming and staring at her lap. He propped one knee up while the other one stayed on the ground cross legged style. He leaned against the post which supported the roof (think of the scene of Neji at Hinata's house in chapter 238 in the Naruto manga if you know what I mean).

"Hinata-sama, you're going with Naruto to the dance, right?"

"Huh? . . . Y-yes . . . I am, Neji-niisan," Hinata answered her cousin, not staring at him. Neji noted that her cheeks were once again turning into a shade of pink.

"Is he nice to you?"

"Oh y-yes. He is. He . . . treated me to l-lunch today again. Naruto-kun is just . . . he's very nice to me."

"I see."

_Hm . . . _

He looked down. "You like him, don't you?"

"!"

Silence.

But Hinata was sure that her cousin could hear her heart pounding like a drum.

She didn't dare respond. Her face sure did. It had turned as red as a strawberry, and her hands were trembling, even though she had folded them in her lap.

"It's okay. I won't tell him." Neji finished the rest of his tea and set the cup onto the tray. He cleared his throat and looked up to her. In his mind, he was almost chuckling to himself as he saw his poor cousin trying her best not to look embarrassed in any way. "Don't worry, Hinata-sama. Naruto's a good guy. You won't find a guy like him anywhere, I guarantee you that."

Hinata finally stared up to her cousin, forcing herself not to tremble or act embarrassed. She bowed her head.

"Thank you, Neji-niisan."

"Heh. No need to thank me."

There was silence again for a few seconds, before Hinata surprisingly spoke up.

"Ten-Ten . . . she's pretty, isn't s-she?"

"Ten-Ten?" Neji shifted uncomfortably and stared at one side so that Hinata could only see the left side of his face. He answered her after a moment of silence, not looking at her. "Yeah. I guess so. But I really don't look at girls that way, if you know what I mean."

"Mm. . ." Hinata nodded.

"I do think of her as a good friend and a trustworthy team mate. . . Okay . . . she _is_ pretty," he finally gave in. Hinata fought back a giggle. She had never heard her cousin talk like this before. It was almost cute to see a guy like Neji talking this way.

"I'm going with her to the dance, cause she didn't have a partner, and neither did I," he murmured. He finally turned his head towards Hinata, his eyes staring at her. He smiled as she politely returned his smile back.

"I'd better get going too," he said as he stood up. "I'll see you at the dance. Okay?"

"Mm." Hinata nodded. She followed after him as he walked towards the front door and said a polite goodbye to him. Then she closed the door and went back to retrieve the tray with the two empty cups.

Shikamaru lay on his back as he stared at the clouds. He was in his usual spot and was watching the white clouds float by in the sky. Chouji had just finished his bag of BBQ chips and now lay on his back too next to his best friend.

_Still can't believe I'm going with Ino to that troublesome dance,_ he thought to himself. _I **was** going to ask her to be my partner anyhow, but I wasn't sure if she was still after Sasuke. Aw, darn that guy! How is it that all the girls find him so attractive, especially when he's such a troublesome jerk? _

He sighed. A sudden image of Ino appeared in his head.

_"Guess I'll have to find someone else," she had said when Sasuke had rejected her. "Say, did you find someone to go to the dance yet?" _

_"No," he had answered her. "It's too troublesome going up to a girl and asking her to that troublesome dance." _

_She had scoffed at that, since he had always answered all of her questions in a similar manner, especially when they were concerning about him. _

_"Well , how bout going to it with me?" _

_"With you?" He was surprised that she actually asked him. Yes, it was troublesome going to a dance already, but to go to it with Ino? Okay, he thought. Maybe it's not THAT troublesome. "Okay then. You better not back out on me or else I'll have to find some other troublesome person to go to the dance with." _

_"I won't. Don't worry, you can trust me." _

He did, and he still did, ever since the Chuunin Exam. Before, he had thought of Ino as nothing but another crazy Sasuke fan that didn't care about anyone but Sasuke and herself. But later, he discovered that he had misjudged her. Yes, even though she _did_ sometimes talk a bit too much with a tongue much too sharp for even his taste, she did care about other people other than Sasuke.

He had finally put his trust in her during the time they were in the second part of the Chunnin Exam in the forest, and even though their 'mission' to save Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto from the 3 Sound ninjas was unsuccessful, he learned to trust Ino more.

She had also cheered him on when he was fighting against Kin from the Sound ninjas and Temari from the Sand ninjas. He learned to regard her more as a friend and her teasing compliment of how he was a chuunin had certainly embarrassed and flattered him.

Chuckling to himself at the thought of Ino dancing with him face to face, he turned towards Chouji.

"Oy Chouji! Have you found a partner yet?"

"Heh. I'm going with Kiba's cousin. Kiba's going with Shino's cousin, and Shino's going with my cousin."

". . . Are you saying you three swapped cousins?"

"Well, yeah. Both their cousins know my cousin and all three of them know each other from being at the same school. Besides, it's just a cover up. Meanwhile, we can just hang out and laugh at you guys when Ino asks you to dance." Chouji laughed. "I cannot imagine you dancing with her! That's so not like you! Dancing already is not like you, but dancing with Ino? Haha! You've got to be kidding me!"

Shikamaru, face all red, stared at Chouji with his eyes narrowed and his eye brows furrowed as his best friend rolled around on the bench, laughing.

"Hey man, knock it off!"

"What's so funny?" Kiba asked as he walked up the stairs with Shino next to him.

"Oh. Shikamaru dancing with Ino, that's all!" Chouji blurted out before Shikamaru could stop him.

Shino raised his eyebrows at that.

"There's no way I'm going to dance with her," Shikamaru muttered.

"Hah! Of course you're going to dance with her! Even if you don't want to, we'll make you!" Kiba grinned as Akamaru barked from the top of his head. Shikamaru sighed. How on earth did these guys suddenly know about this?

Shino chuckled to himself. He had to agree that the thought of Shikamaru dancing with Ino was pretty funny, but at the same time, it was something no one would want to miss for the world to see.

"No way," Shikamaru denied.

"Stop denying the fact that you like her, man!" Kiba barked loudly. "You know that it's true!"

"What the hell—"

"Shikamaruuuu!" Chouji sang in a teasing tone.

"It's not true—"

"Denial," Shino stated.

"Guys! It's not—"

"That's why we HAVE to make you two dance together!" Kiba shouted. Akamaru barked again, and stuck out its tongue at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru groaned. _How troublesome. . ._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sasuke sat on top of the roof top, letting the soft breeze blow his bangs back. He was pretty tired from all that training he had done in the morning, and had just finished eating. He let his legs dangle off the edge of the flat roof top as he stared down onto the road below him.

It was then did something pink catch his eye below in the road. Turning his head downwards towards that pink colour, he spotted Sakura, who was walking down the main road, with a shopping bag next to in her right hand. She was still walking slowly, due to her ankle, but didn't seem as weak as she had yesterday.

Sasuke squinted to catch a closer glimpse at her. She was smiling at that moment, the breeze blowing her hair back, and her eyes seemed to be sparkling.

He turned his head as his eyes followed his pink haired team mate down the main road.

_Uchiha, you have to stop this nonsense! No matter how nice she is towards you, you should never EVER allow a GIRL to get in the way of your goal: to kill Uchiha Itachi. _

He turned his eyes away from her for a second, confused. Why can't he stop staring at her?

When he turned his gaze back towards her, he was frustrated to find Lee running up to Sakura from behind. Sakura turned around at the call of her name, and smiled when Lee approached her. Sasuke felt his eyebrows furrow as Sakura smiled at him as he talked to him. His eyes began to narrow when Lee once again gave her another flower.

What was this . . . strange feeling?

_Damn . . ._

"What are you staring at, Sasuke?" a voice came behind him. He tried not to show that he was embarrassed or surprised at being found at such a place. Turning his head around slowly, he found himself staring at his jounin teacher, Kakashi. Sasuke glared at him for a moment before he turned his back towards him again. He quickly looked down and stared at the opposite direction of where Sakura was as his sensei glanced at the direction he had just been looking at.

"Ohh," Kakashi breathed out.

"What do you want?" Sasuke grumbled.

"Ai. Sasuke, you must realize this," Kakashi said as he saw that Sakura was waving goodbye to Lee as they departed. "You cannot choose both Sakura and your goal to avenge your clan."

"What the hell? L-look. I don't even know what you're talking about," Sasuke snapped as his fist clenched.

"Don't deny it, Sasuke," Kakashi said as he took out "Come Come Paradise". "You know very well what I'm talking about."

"Leave me alone," he grumbled.

"Sasuke," his teacher said after a moment of silence. "You're in love with her, aren't you?"

His heart stopped beating for a second.

Sasuke did not turn around, but rather, stayed silent. His heart however now vibrated loudly, increasing its pulse with each second.

". . . . . ."

"You're angry at yourself because you have allowed a girl to come between you and your goal to kill your brother," Kakashi continued on. "Now, you're frustrated and confused with what to do. You know you want to kill your brother, but at the same time, you know you can no longer ignore Sakura."

"Mind your own business!" Sasuke hissed under his breath.

Kakashi flipped a page in his book, finally looking up at his pupil from his reading. Sasuke's back was still towards him, but he could have sworn he saw his hands tremble.

_Hm . . . . . _

"I don't know what you want to do," Kakashi said, looking back at his book. "But let me make one thing clear to you: killing **Sakura** won't solve your problems. In fact, it will only add onto your misery."

Sasuke's head jerked at that.

_Killing Sakura? . . . I wasn't even thinking about that. . ._

Kakashi walked away from him about 2 feet before he stopped again. "I'll leave the decision up to you. You're old enough to think it through."

He paused. He was going to say a bit more, but he decided not to. Sasuke already had a lot of his mind. Kakashi sighed. "Remember to dress up for the dance."

With that, he disappeared off the roof in a puff of smoke. Sasuke turned around to see if he had gone, then turned back and sighed.

_Why . . . is this happening to me? _

He lifted his hands to his temples and closed his eyes.

_"Pardon me?" Sakura had said to him after she asked him if he would like to go to the dance with her as a friend. _

_"I said, what time?" _

_"W-what do you mean what time?" _

_"I mean what time should I pick you up?" he had said in a louder voice. There was a pause before realization filled Sakura's voice._

_"You mean, you'll go with me-"_

_"Hey, I'm only going with you as a friend, remember? . . ."_

Only as a friend . . .

_"So do you want me to come with you or not—"_

_"Yes. Yes I do. I **do** want you to come with me, please. . ."_

She had wanted him to come. She really did.

_"You cannot choose both Sakura and your goal to avenge your clan," Kakashi had said earlier. _

He had already known that. It was either one or the other.

_"Sasuke, you're in love with her, aren't you?" _

_Am I? . . . Is this why I am reacting this way? _

_"I don't know what you want to do. But let me make one thing clear to you: killing Sakura won't solve your problems. In fact it will only add onto your misery." _

Killing Sakura? No, he would never do that. _It's not even worth killing a weakling like that,_ he thought. _Besides, if she means nothing to me, then I wouldn't feel any pain. Right?. . . But, that's only if she means nothing to me, which she doesn't . . . right? _

"Argh! What's WRONG with ME?!" He punched the edge of the roof with a fist, teeth clenched. Small bits of cement flew off from the impact of his punch.

Sasuke panted angrily as he slowly lifted up his fists. His teeth clenched tightly as he tried to wrestle with his frustration.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath as he closed his eyes tightly. "What . . . what should I do?"

_"Foolish brother. If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way, run and run and cling onto life."_

_"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. . ."_

_"You cannot choose both Sakura and your goal to avenge your clan."_

Sasuke finally opened his eyes and lifted up his head. It was now late afternoon. Evening would approach soon in a few hours. The sky was still clear, the breeze still blew in the air, and there were still birds flying in the air.

He turned around and got up from the roof ledge, walking away from where he was sitting just now. He sighed and leapt off the building to a smaller one beyond it and finally to the ground. He walked near the same path the forest he had been training in this morning was.

Turning his head, he was the same patch of flowers Kakashi had seen in the morning also. A single pink flower stood out from a patch of white ones. Staring at it, he considered his choices once more, more calmly this time.

He stared closer at the pink flower. Its soft coloured petals looked so soft and delicate, with its green stem and leaves. The centre of the flower was pale yellow. A single white line went down every petal, blending in with the pink colour.

_Sakura . . ._

He turned his head away, then continued down the path and walked home. The pink flower swayed in the soft breeze as the rest of the white flowers swayed with it gently.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After dinner, Sakura sighed and walked up to her room. She opened the door and closed it, as she approached her bed and sat on the edge. Her ankle had recovered a lot more now. She had frequently iced it down, following Sasuke's advice to ice her ankle to prevent swelling, and now, she could walk properly without having to limp.

Her dress hung in front of her closet. It was pink, but the shade of pink was darker than her hair and closer to a light shade of pinkish-red.

It was sleeveless, with a smaller collar than the collar on her regular dress. The collar stopped past her collar bones and wasn't too low. The dress went past her knees and had small slits on both sides. A long white ribbon was tied around the waist and went around it twice. It was then tied to a small bow on the left side of the waist.

It had looked nice on her when she had tried it on. It was pretty slim, but she liked how it had looked on her. The dress had a little bit of sparkly glitter all about. It didn't stand out, but when she moved in the light, it showed a little bit.

It was the 4th dress she had tried on. The first dress she had tried on didn't quite fit her and she didn't like how it felt. The other two looked pretty weird on her. This one however, she liked immediately the moment she had tried it on. Even Ino had said that it had looked better on her than the previous three. The price was good too; not too expensive.

_I wonder, if Sasuke-kun will like me in this,_ she thought, staring at the dress.

Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. He meant everything to her, and was everything that she had ever wanted; except for one thing. He had never given her the one thing she had wanted so much from him: love.

She had often wondered why her mysterious team mate was so secretive with his feelings. She knew very well that he had wanted to kill a man, and that man was his only sibling and other remaining Uchiha descendant.

But he had agreed to go to the dance with her. That was more than enough to make her happy, even though they were only going as friends.

Back then, when they had first met, he had called her "annoying". She immediately was shocked by the way her crush had reacted to her, and from then on, had watched her mouth more carefully. Eventually, she learned to treat him more like an actual person instead of a famous movie star, though she still liked him.

Then, there was the Chuunin Exam. That actually brought the entire team 7 closer together, especially Sasuke. He actually for the first time acknowledged her more as a team mate than an annoying fan girl and trusted her more. When Orochimaru had fought them, she had looked after him during the time after Orochimaru had given him that cursed seal. Her feelings for him had deepened during the exam, and she soon realized that he wasn't an idol to her anymore: he had become the person she had longed to love.

Now, he had treated her more like an actual friend, though he barely talked to her on average, which was normal for him anyhow.

She sighed. How was she ever going to tell him that she loved him?

_Maybe the dance is the opportunity I've been waiting for,_ she decided. _But . . ._

She still remembered Sasuke's words. _"I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."_

_"I am an avenger."_

She knew very well that he would allow nothing to stop him from fulfilling his ambition(s). She also knew that he may never acknowledge her again if she were to tell him that she loved him. It would just not be the same for either of them if she was to come forward with her true feelings. Sasuke might very well in fact ignore due to this incident and may never acknowledge her as a friend anymore.

_Is this the correct choice: telling Sasuke-kun that I love him? _

Sakura sighed as she lay on her back on the bed. She could almost see Sasuke's cool yet somehow shy grin. Those black eyes . . . that cool hair style . . .

_I'll give anything just for Sasuke-kun . . . but what if he doesn't feel the same way as I do about him? What if . . . what if you'll never look my way again? _

Sakura closed her eyes, her hand clenched around a handful of her blanket.

_Sasuke-kun . . . I don't want to lose you . . . I'll do anything for you . . . just so you'll acknowledge me back . . ._

She opened her eyes, and glanced at that wonderful and only picture of Team #7. She looked so much younger in that picture. Her eyes wandered to Sasuke. His usual frown was there. He almost looked annoyed to see his photo get taken. She smiled.

She couldn't wait to see him tomorrow when he would come to pick her up for the dance. What if –

_What if he would allow her to dance with him? Just once even? _Sakura grinned at the thought shyly as she felt her cheeks go warm. _But like, that's ever going to happen. He's not the type to even go to a party, much less a dance. I can only hope for that moment . . ._

Sakura smiled at the thought of Sasuke holding her by the waist as they danced to the soft music, with her hands around his neck.

_If only . . . just if only my dream would come true . . ._

- - - - - -- - - - - - -

Sasuke sighed as he flopped on top of his bed. It was dark outside and it had been a very stressful day for him.

_Darn that stupid dance_, he thought to himself. If it weren't for the dance, he would have trained a lot more with the time given.

He had thought over the options/choices Kakashi had told him about that afternoon, but had not come to a clean decision with what to do. He knew there was one other option he had thought about, but he wasn't sure if he would risk it.

_It might be too risky. I could end up getting weaker both physically and emotionally,_ he had told himself.

Sasuke sighed. _Damn it! Why me?! Why can't it be someone else? And why can't I get Sakura out of MY HEAD?!?! _

He thought back of the dream he had the other night: He, dancing with her, holding her by the waist, with her, her arms around him. They had been looking into each others eyes and it seemed to last forever.

Sasuke shivered. _I hope that never h-happens tomorrow at the d-dance. _

Closing his eyes, he finally fell into a fitful sleep, and still, he dreamed the same dream again. But there was one main difference this time. In the first dream, they were only dancing with each other. In this dream, he was confessing to her how much he had loved her. . .

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please review! Next chapter will be updated late due to exams! Please be patient! I will do my best!!


	3. Ch3 The day of the dance

-0-My Sakura-0-

Once again, thank you so much to ALL my reviewers out there who have reviewed my story! I admit that this is the hardest fan fiction I have ever wrote so far! Thank you! I will do my best! Please enjoy!

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_"I can't believe it! Sasuke-kun's going to be here soon!" Sakura quickly brushed her pink hair one more time, looked at her self in the mirror, and glanced at her pink alarm clock. 6:30. _

_Today was the dance and without a doubt, Sakura was incredibly excited about it. Sasuke would be here soon, and she was certain that they were going to have a fun time, even if they were just going as friends. _

_Ding dong! "The doorbell! Sasuke-kun is here!" _

_Running to the door, she opened it and smiled when she saw that Sasuke was standing there, hands in pockets. He actually for once did not look annoyed to see her. _

_"You ready?" he asked a slight smile. _

_He smiled at me, Sakura thought as she tried not to smile so wide. _

_"Yes, I am." _

_"Then let's get going." Sakura was about to nod when she suddenly noticed that the light blue sky was turning into pitch black. Lightning suddenly appeared from a distance. She opened her mouth to tell Sasuke what she was seeing, but found that she could not talk or even move. Sasuke looked at her weirdly. It looked as if she was suspended in motion. _

_Sakura's eyes widened as suddenly, a lightning bolt hit the ground 3 metres in front of her house, and from within the smoke, emerged a dark figure. She watched in terror as the dark figure ever so slowly, creep up the porch stairs and neared Sasuke. _

_"Sakura, are you okay?" Sasuke was asking her. Sakura tried once again to move, but could not. _

_Behind you! Behind you! Sasuke-kun, her mind was yelling. _

_The figure appeared right behind Sasuke, but he did not seem to notice anything happening behind him. _

_"Sakura? What's wrong?" _

_Run Sasuke-kun! It's right behind you! _

_The figure was much taller than Sasuke. A bolt of lightning flashed, casting a bit of light onto the figure's face. Two familiar red eyes._

_Sakura tried to scream, but her voice felt as if it was disconnected from her. _

_"Sakura—"Sasuke was about to say. _

_SASUKE-KUN! LOOK OUT!_

_The person raised a kunai above its head and plunged it into Sasuke's head. Blood spewed out as Sasuke's eyes crossed. He collapsed to the ground. _

_Sakura's mind snapped. _

"SASUKE-KUN!" she screamed a loud. Silence. She quickly sat up, sweat beading her forehead. Her hair was slightly damp. Her heart was pounding in her throat.

It had been a dream. A nightmare.

Sighing, she laid back onto her pillow, trying to calm herself down. Her breathing was still uneven, and she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. It was still dark outside. Finally, her breathing slowed down to a calmer pace and her gasps and panting gradually stopped. Her heart's pounding also decreased, but at a much slower pace.

Glancing at her clock, she saw that it was 3 o'clock on its glow-in-the-dark numbers and hands. She lay on her back for a complete minute before shifting to her side. She pulled her covers higher as her mind still replayed the most horrifying part of her nightmare.

_SASUKE-KUN! LOOK OUT! she had tried to scream out. But of course, he couldn't hear her._

_The person had then raised a kunai above its head and had plunged it into Sasuke's head. Blood immediately had spewed out of Sasuke's head as his eyes crossed. He then collapsed to the ground. _

_Sasuke-kun,_ she thought in fear as she remembered him being killed right in front of her. _Those eyes . . ._

When the lightning bolt had flashed, it had allowed her to see only the eyes of the murderer in her nightmare.

_Sharingan, _she realized. She knew very well who it was. She pulled the covers even higher.

It took her another hour to go back to sleep.

-

The sun shone through the window as Sasuke finally opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, staring at the ceiling. That's right, there were no missions today either. They've all been cancelled due to the dance. The dance. . .

_The dream! _

Sitting up with a start, his eyes widened as he recalled the dream he had last night.

He had been dancing with her again.

_Dancing. . . _

Then it hit him: he had been confessing his love to her.

_Confessing. . . my . . . m-my. . . _

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath. Sasuke clenched his fists tightly as his teeth clenched. His brow arched as he wrestled with his anger and frustration. _Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! _

_"Foolish brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way, run and run and cling onto life."_

"_Thank you, Sasuke-kun. . ." _

Sasuke flipped his blankets away, rage running through him. He panted angrily, clenching his fists even tighter.

_Why. . .? _

He slammed a fist down onto the mattress, making the entire bed sway. He did it again. And again. And again. He did it over again and again. And with each blow, he yelled "DAMMIT!" in his head.

_How is this happening to me! Why is this happening to me! WHY!_

Finally, he stopped and flopped onto his stomach, head down, his hands still in fists. He tried to calm himself down, but couldn't. His hands trembled with rage as he closed his eyes tightly.

_"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. . ." _

_Why am I still . . . still so weak? . . ._

He finally sat back up after lying on the bed for a whole five minutes. It was 8:15. He had woken up a bit later than he usually did. Absentmindedly, he glanced at the photo of Team 7. Sasuke's eyes wandered around the photo for a bit, before finally resting on Sakura.

_Sakura . . ._

Her smiling face stood out from the picture. There was a sense of naivety written on her face. He unconsciously stared at her.

The image of him dancing with her in his dream resurfaced. It was the same as last time, only this time . . .

Sasuke shivered, then turned away from the picture. He felt sick again. It had happened again.

_It . . . It's probably a coincidence,_ he thought to himself as he got off the bed. _Dreams and illusions are meaningless. Besides, she means nothing to me—_

_"Sasuke, you're in love with her, aren't you?" _

He turned on the light to the bathroom and stared at the mirror.

_Am I? . . ._

His reflection stared back at him. Confusion ran through his eyes. He frowned and turned on the tap. He splashed some water onto his face and grabbed a towel.

_Uchiha, you have to remember your goal in life: to kill Uchiha Itachi. If anything gets in your way of your goal, you must rid yourself of it. It is the only way you will ever become strong. _

He wiped his face dry and stared back at his reflection.

_"You cannot choose both Sakura and your goal to avenge your clan." _

_No . . . I can't . . . But . . . does she really mean **that** **much** to me? I mean, she's just Sakura. I respect her both as a team mate and a friend, but . . . do I actually like her in that sense? . . . Dammit! Get a hold of yourself Uchiha! Your main goal right now is to start training, not daydream about Haruno in front of the mirror! _

Sasuke quickly brushed his teeth and changed into his usual clothes. 15 minutes later, he was walking into the forest to perform his daily training/exercise regiment, trying his best to ignore his thoughts on the dance and his dream.

-

"Ah!" Tsunade yawned loudly as she stretched from her chair. Now that things had slowly but steadily settled in Konoha, she could finally give the younger ninjas a little break for themselves.

_I never would have guessed that the Third would have to undergo so much stress as a Hokage, _she thought tiredly. She looked at the scrolls and parchments surrounding her desk and groaned. _More paperwork . . . just great, _she thought to herself.

A knock came from her door. Looking up, she saw Hagane Kotetsu and Izumo come into her office.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Hokage-sama, all the food has already arrived for tonight's dance," Izumo said.

"That's good," she stated. "Have you finished the decorations for the school gym yet?"

"They're about 95 complete," said Kotetsu. "It should be finished during late afternoon."

"Great. Keep up the good work."

"Say, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes?"

"I know this is mainly a dance for the students and most of the jounin instructors, but will you be attending the dance as well?"

"Huh? Me? W-ell . . . yes, I will be attending it. It is important that I check up on the younger ninjas, since it has been quite a while since I've socialized with them or their teachers, other than relating their missions. Besides, I could use a break too."

The two ninjas bowed, then left the room. Tsunade watched the door close, then got up and stood in front of the window. Konoha looked a lot more peaceful than it did during the last few weeks. She sighed.

_Wonder if Jiraiya's gonna show for the dance . . ._

-

"Chouji! You took my piece of meat again!" Ino exclaimed as she watched Chouji eat up her slice of beef.

"Sorry, Ino. You know how hungry I get during lunch." Chouji stuck out his chopsticks again and picked up 5 pieces of meat this time in one swipe. Shikamaru sighed. Asuma was treating them again to Japanese BBQ for lunch.

"You better leave some food for us at the dance," Ino murmured as she popped a piece of meat into her mouth.

"Speaking of dance, when should I pick you up, Ino?" Shikamaru said, turning to the blonde.

"When?" Ino forced herself to look at Shikamaru and almost immediately felt her cheeks go warm. "Hmmm . . . . l-let's say 6:35? Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah. Is it okay for you thought? Because all of the girls spend so much time making sure they look nice before they actually leave." _How absolutely troublesome . . . damn, I'm glad I'm not a girl . . _

"Yeah! Of course 6:35's okay for me. You'd better not be late though," Ino said hastily, wiping her mouth with a napkin. Shikamaru eyed at her for a few seconds before nodding and breaking his eye contact from her. Chouji flashed him a smug grin, nodding towards him and then towards Ino. Shikamaru groaned, face flashing.

"So Chouji," said Asuma. "Who's your partner then, since Ino and Shikamaru are both paired up together?"

"Oh. I'm going with Kiba's cousin," the chubby Genin said happily. "It was a last minute decision, but she's pretty nice, even to an unpopular guy like me."

"Well," Ino cut in. "Maybe if you eat less and train more to lose some weight, more girls will actually like you."

"Hmph! What about you? You're always dieting and putting on too little weight," Chouji grumbled. "It's not good for you health, you know."

"That's because I'm a girl," Ino shot back.

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so'?" Ino exclaimed. "If a girl is too fat, she won't have ANY luck in the future with boys and she'd certainly become an outcast. Guys only go for thin girls, you know."

"Well, guys don't always prefer _skeleton-_thin girls," Chouji said, putting down his chopsticks. "Right Shikamaru?"

"Huh?" _Great. . . Ino's getting pissed and my best friend just dragged me into this conversation? . . . How troublesome. . ._ "W-ell, I . . . I guess. But Ino's right about you. You should spend more time training. That way, you can become even stronger." Chouji smiled at that. "And Ino," Shikamaru said, turning towards her. "Even though you _are_ a girl, gaining one or two pounds isn't going to kill you, right?"

"Exactly," Chouji agreed.

"AH! Don't you guys ever get it!" Ino said exasperatedly. "Thin girls are what guys go for when choosing a girlfriend. Besides, I'm only dieting to get Sasuke-kun to notice me," she added, clasping her hands together and sighing, her cheeks pink. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

_Sasuke again? What's so great about Uchiha anyhow? What the heck do girls even see in him? _

"Sasuke doesn't seem like the type who likes any type of girl," Chouji said with his mouth full. "Besides, even if he did, don't you think he would have chosen someone else as a girlfriend?"

That comment hit a nerve. Shikamaru watched as a vein bulged out of Ino's forehead.

"WHY YOOOOOUU! Who are you to judge, you fa—"

"Ino!" Shikamaru cut in. "That word is a forbidden word. Now let's stop this argument on Uchiha and lower your voices. We're causing a ruckus in the restaurant."

"Alright then, if you three aren't going to eat, then—"

Asuma got cut off as Chouji interrupted him.

"Noo! I'm not done eating yet!"

"Chouji! Quiet! You're so loud," Ino complained. Shikamaru sighed, secretly relieved that Ino was no longer praising Sasuke and that they had steered away from the conversation on Sasuke.

-

Hinata nervously tugged at her dress. She didn't have to buy a new one because she had already had one in her closet, ready to be worn. It was a light shade of purple and was sleeveless. It was extremely simple, which suited her quite nicely, and a yellow short sleeved sweater made of silky smooth material matched it.

She sighed.

_"Th . . . thank you, Naruto-kun," she had said when Naruto had treated her to lunch yesterday. _

_"Now, now, now! There's no need to thank you! I should be thanking you for being my partner for the dance."_

Her heart thumped.

"_Bye Hinata! I'll see you tomorrow!"_

Her pulse quickened.

"_Hinata-sama, you're going with Naruto to the dance, right?" Neji had asked her the other day. _

"_Huh? . . . Y-yes . . . I am, Neji-niisan," she had told her cousin. _

_"Is he nice to you?"_

_"Oh y-yes. He is. He . . . treated me to l-lunch today again. Naruto-kun is just . . . he's very nice to me." _

_"I see." _

_She hadn't even expected her cousin to go on. But he did._

_"You like him, don't you?" _

She didn't even know _how_ it had all started, but somehow, she had ended up falling for the mischievous obnoxious fox-demon boy.

She had questioned herself so many times before why she had a crush on him, or even how she had ended up liking him in this sense; but she could not clearly state an answer.

_'Naruto-kun, I have always watched you . . . watched you for all these years . . . why is that?' she had questioned herself when she was fighting Neji in the preliminary matches in the Chuunin Exam. _

_Perhaps, it's because he's always so . . . noisy. Or maybe perhaps he's always smiling. Or maybe . . . maybe because he's not afraid of being himself around other people,_ she thought to herself. _Maybe I look up to him because of this . . . But . . . how can I ever tell him how I actually feel about him?_

She clasped her hands tightly together, biting her bottom lip.

_How can I ever be myself around him . . .? What if he actually does not like me being around with him? What if he hates me? . . ._

"_Don't worry, Hinata-sama. Naruto's a good guy. You won't find a guy like him anywhere, I guarantee you that."_

Hinata stood still. Yes, Neji was right. Naruto was one in a million. And he was also a very kind person, especially towards her.

She had often hoped and even prayed, that somehow, he would acknowledge her more than just a peer from his school. But never before had she ever expected him to treat her to lunch.

He had treated her twice in a row to lunch, and that was more than she had wanted from him. Now, in 4 hours and a half, he was going to go to the dance with her, as her partner.

He had chosen her to be his partner, despite the fact that Sakura had rejected him. But still, she was the one he had chosen as his partner. It was her . . . and no one else.

_Naruto-kun, I'll try to be as brave as you are, I'll try to be your friend, and I'll try to be myself . . . especially around you. . . Perhaps, through this dance, I will be able to change myself . . . by looking at you for strength . . . _

Hinata smiled, her cheeks flushing.

She then glanced at her dress again and very gently, fingered the smooth material before she left the room.

-

"Crap! What am I supposed to wear for the dance!" Naruto exclaimed as he went through his closet.

He hadn't known that the fact that you were supposed to dress up for the dance didn't apply for just girls, but for guys as well.

He would have very much like it better if they would have allowed him to just go to the dance as he was, but then, he didn't want to embarrass Hinata, since it had already taken him a long time just to find a girl who would actually go with him to the dance.

"Thank god Hinata agreed to go with me, otherwise I'll be even more screwed," he muttered as he pulled some clothes out of his closet. Most of them looked just like the one he had worn everyday, and some were just too weird for a dance.

"Where is that suit I had?" It turned out that he had gotten himself a nice looking suit a year ago from someone who had no longer wanted it, but it was good enough for him. Unfortunately, he had never worn it before and since it was a year ago, he had no idea where he had last put it.

Clothes hangers fell to the ground as a pile of clothes piled up behind him.

"Wonder if Sasuke's even got himself a partner yet," he wondered aloud (obviously, he was the only who had not found out that Sasuke was going with Sakura). "The guy's so popular he can find a partner within 1 second after he announces that he needs a partner. Sakura's probably found a partner too. Maybe 'Thick Brows' is going with her, since he's always giving her flowers."

He moved aside four more cardboard boxes and cheered when he found his suit, jammed into the back of his closet, still in a plastic bag which was covered with dust. Sneezing, Naruto took the suit out and took off the tape from the bag. Taking the suit out, he was surprised by the fact that it had not looked crumbled.

"Hah! I can save myself some ironing time!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. He quickly undressed himself and tried it on. Miraculously, it still fitted him perfectly.

"YES!"

The suit was black, with a white dress shirt, and a black tie. The pants were also black, with pockets.

Naruto took off his forehead protector with the proud symbol of Konoha and ruffled out his hair.

Then he looked back at the mirror. He looked a bit odd in a suit, but decided that he looked great.

_Hinata would love to see me in this tonight,_ he thought excitedly as he loosened his tie around his neck.

Strangely, he realized that his thoughts had landed on the quiet Hyuuga girl. She was always so kind and polite to him, even when he was annoying the crap out of everyone else.

_I should treat Hinata more nicely, since she's always so nice to me,_ he thought. _That's why I will not embarrass her tonight at the dance! _

Glancing at his alarm clock, which was seated on his dresser, he saw that it was almost three thirty.

_Hm,_ he thought. _Might as well try to find my dress shoes. _

He began digging into his closet again.

-

Sasuke opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside.

Closing the door behind him, he leaned against it and sighed.

_What am I going to do, _he thought to himself. _I know very well what my goal is . . . but . . . _

He had made his decision that afternoon, rather reluctantly, but he had no choice. Kakashi was right. It was either one or the other.

"_You cannot choose both Sakura and your goal to avenge your clan."_

He knew that it was impossible for him to choose both things at once.

_Wait a minute! Sakura means nothing to me. Nothing! _he reminded himself. _But if so, then why is it that I keep regretting the decision that I have made? And why . . . _

An image of Sakura flashed through his mind. Those bright eyes, that glossy hair, that innocent smile . . .

_Why do I find myself thinking of her? _

Sasuke stood up. Walking up to his closet, he glanced at the suit he was planning to wear for tonight's dance. It was black, with a navy blue tie and white shirt. It was neatly ironed, with no speck of dust anywhere in sight.

_Tonight, I'm just going to act as casual as I can,_ he reminded himself. _And I won't dance with anyone. Not even-_

A sudden image of his dreams in the past few nights flashed in his mind.

" . . . . . . . ."

He stood still, heart pounding loudly.

_Dammit! _

He looked down onto the floor.

_I can't do this . . ._ _I can't **do** this . . . why? Why is this so hard for me? _

Turning his head sideways, his eyes caught onto the picture of Team 7. Sakura's smile was the first thing that stood out from the picture.

The dance was tonight, and in perhaps a few hours, he would have to go pick Sakura up. He would also have to make his decision right then and there at the dance. If he chose either one of his choices, then he would have to walk that path, probably forever.

He stared at the picture for a few seconds, before he finally turned away and walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

-

"Hey Tsunade-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think the purple dress looks better on me or the red one?" Shizune held up two dresses, one in each hand on a clothes hanger. Tsunade glanced at them, then finally said, "The purple one, of course."

"Okay." Shizune put the red one back onto her closet and closed the closet door. Tsunade herself was already dressed in a pink dress with a low collar. A green (the same shade of green on her usual jacket with the 'gambling' symbol) sash bound around her waist.

She stared out the window as Shizune changed.

"Say, Shizune?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to the dance with Genma?"

"Genma? Oh yeah! Yes, I am. He asked me the other day if I would like to accompany him for the evening." Shizune walked towards a full length mirror and examined herself. "Since it was optional for jounins to go with other jounin teachers, he thought that he'll just ask me."

"I see. I hope you two will have a great time together."

"Thanks." Shizune turned around, smiling. "You know, Jiraiya's probably going to ask you to dance tonight."

"Oh?" she responded, pretending to be surprised.

"Well duh! He IS Jiraiya after all. And it's pretty obvious that the two of you did have something going on-"

"Now, where did you hear that bit?" Tsunade asked as she turned around.

"Oh. It was only a rumour, not to worry, Tsunade-sama." Shizune faced Tsunade and flashed her a smile. Tsunade stared at her for a few seconds, then smiled back.

"Is Genma going to pick you up?"

"Yep."

"Okay then. I'm just going to head over to the gym to check up that everything is in order. Take your time and have fun. I'll see you later."

"Okay. I'll catch up with you later. Take care." Shizune watched as the door closed. She glanced at her watch. It was 5:30.

-

Sakura stepped out of the shower at 5:50. Grabbing a scruffy pink towel off the towel rack, she dried her hair and her soaked body as her mind jumped excitedly on thoughts on the dance.

_Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! I'm actually going with Sasuke-kun to the dance tonight! _

She wrapped a towel around her head after she put on her bathrobe. Glancing at her face in the mirror, she observed her features. Green eyes . . . small nose . . . big fore head . . .

Smiling at herself in the mirror, she thought of Sasuke coming to pick her up for the dance. He would of course, look like his usual cool self, with his cool trademark hairstyle and his barely seen but rather shy grin.

"Ahh . . ." Sakura breathed out, thinking about him. She always got tingly all over whenever she thought of him.

A sudden image of the Sharingan she had seen in her dream appeared in her mind.

She paused.

_That was . . . that was definitely Uchiha Itachi_, she realized. _He's the person Sasuke-kun wishes to kill . . . _

She knew very well about Sasuke's dark past. It had a huge influence on him.

_Especially on his ambitions,_ she thought.

She still remembered those words which he had said: _"I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."_

She knew he would stop at nothing to kill him, but –

_What if . . . what if he never comes back alive? _

Sakura shuddered. Her smile dropped.

_I must convince him somehow not to pursue Itachi, otherwise . . . otherwise . . . he might just end up hurting himself even more . . . I want to stop him from getting hurt . . . I don't want him to be alone anymore . . ._

Sakura wiped her eyes with the towel she had unwrapped from her head.

_Sasuke-kun . . . I don't want to lose you . . . ever . . . especially not like this . . . I just wish that there'll be some way I can tell you about the way I feel about you. . . _

"Argh . . . stupid me. I'm so weak . . . I can't even think about Sasuke-kun without crying my eyes out," she muttered to herself.

_Cheer up girl! Tonight is going to be the night of your life! Even if Sasuke-kun doesn't want to dance with you, you should consider how lucky you are to have him as your partner! _

Sakura felt a bit better, and took out her hair dryer.

But deep inside, her heart could not wipe away that dreadful thought of Sasuke leaving her . . . forever.

-

Ino glanced at herself in front of the mirror. Her blonde hair was tied up into a neat bun with a purple beaded elastic hair tie. She was wearing a sleeveless dress with a low V-neck collar. She wore small purple earrings to match her outfit. A see-through purple shawl came with the outfit.

She had actually liked the dress very much. It brought out the colour of her eyes and suited her blonde hair quite well. She had applied on only a little bit of eyeliner and lipstick, which helped sharpen her face a bit.

Sighing, she glanced at her watch. 6:30. Shikamaru would be here soon.

She felt her cheeks go warm again.

_Shikamaru. . . __Why do I keep thinking about you? Why is it that I can never try to forget you? _

Ino checked herself once more in the mirror, then decided to put on her strapped low heeled sandals and wait by the door.

-

Ding dong!

Neji waited patiently as he waited for Ten-Ten to answer the door. Dressed in a black suit with a black tie and white shirt, he wore a black headband to cover his cursed forehead mark instead of his usual forehead protector.

It was really rare for him to wear such formal attire, but everyone else was doing the same.

_I still can't believe I'm actually doing this,_ he thought to himself. _Going to a dance is one thing, but actually asking Ten-Ten to go to the dance with me? That's a whole different story. _

He had screwed up his calmness and courage just to ask her to go with him during that time they were training. He was extremely glad to discover that she had not been 'taken' yet by someone else and had used that opportunity to ask her.

_I wonder . . . wonder what will happen tonight at the dance? _

He stared at the sky. The sun had lowered and evening had already approached. He turned back around towards the door just as it opened. Ten-Ten appeared from behind the door. Neji felt his heart skip a beat as he stared at her.

She was dressed in a dress that was a shade of purple and pink combined. It had a Chinese collar and was sleeveless. Unlike her usual Chinese collar, this collar was not tied from the middle but from the side. The dress was long and slim and there was a back slit on the lower part of her dress.

Her hair was still fixed into two buns, but she had clipped on some beaded flower clips around them. It was extremely neat and tidy, and made her look even prettier. She had applied only a light coat of lip gloss for make up and nothing else. It took Neji a while before he could actually stop observing her and say something.

"H-hey," he finally managed to say.

She smiled at him, making him blush in embarrassment.

_Quick, say something back to her,_ he told himself.

"Um . . . you . . . you l-look very . . . very . . . pretty." He quickly avoided her eye contact to save himself from embarrassment. Ten-Ten giggled.

"Thank you," she said shyly. Her cheeks were pink now. "You look very handsome too," she added. Now it was her turn to avoid his eye contact. Neji blushed.

"Thanks."

There was awkward silence before Neji spoke up again.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes."

With that, the 'couple' walked down the road together, talking in polite manner as they stared into each others' eyes.

-

"Crap! I'm late!" It was 6:40 by the time Naruto left the house. He ran down the road hurriedly, trying not to mess up his neatly polished dress shoes.

"C'mon! Move feet move!" He ran past a series of buildings. He had promised her that he wouldn't make them late for the dance, and if he broke that promise, he knew that he would regret it for the rest of his life.

_I'm sorry Hinata! It was my fault! _

He doubled his efforts and ran even faster. Surprisingly, it only took him 5 minutes to get to her house whereas usually, it took 15 minutes.

He was out of breath when he rang the doorbell. A rather nervous Hinata answered the door.

"Naruto-k-kun? Are you a-alright?"

"Hinata! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me for being late! I'll never do it again! I promise!" he exclaimed, as he started bowing to her apologetically.

"Naruto-kun?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

Hinata blushed.

"Naruto-kun, it's okay," she said, trying not to blush even more than she already had. Naruto had looked so handsome in a suit! "I-I'm sure we c-c-can still make it-t on time."

"Ready to go then?" He said, holding his arm/elbow out to her. Hinata almost felt like fainting. He had held his arm out to her!

That single clip of him holding his arm out to her and saying "Ready to go then?" replayed itself over and over again in her head.

Hinata blushed an even deeper shade of red, bit her lip, and looked up to his eyes.

"Y-yes." Rather shyly and reluctantly, she timidly reached out with both hands, placed them around his elbow, and walked down the steps with him.

_I c-can't believe it! Naruto-kun held his arm out to me and we are walking together! _

Her heart was beating like a drum and she kept smiling every few seconds as Naruto kept talking about how great the dance was going to be.

_If only you knew, Naruto-kun . . ._

-

Ding-Dong! Sakura stood up excitedly and walked over to the door.

She placed a trembling hand onto the door knob, took a deep breath, and opened it.

Sasuke's head turned towards her as she opened the door. He wasn't wearing his forehead protector and he was dressed in a suit with a navy blue tie. He had his hands in his pockets and did not look annoyed to see her.

"Hey," he said in his usual low voice.

"Hey," she said back to him.

"You ready?" he said with the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

_He smiled at me! _Sakura thought as she tried not to smile so wide.

"Yes I am."

"Then let's go."

She nodded, smiling at him.

Suddenly she froze.

_The dream. This is just like the dream! _

Flash backs of her vicious nightmare swarmed her mind in a second.

_Sh-Sharingan,_ she thought as she remembered those eyes.

She suddenly felt cold, as if someone had lowered the room temperature.

_Sasuke-kun. . ._

Itachi had struck him from the head and had killed him . . . just like that.

Her pulse quickened. _What if something like this happens!_

"Sakura?"

"Huh!" She looked up into the dark eyes. Sasuke was looking at her weirdly.

"Are you . . . are you alright?" he asked, still eyeing at her.

"H-huh? Oh. Of course I am!" She smiled another flashing smile at him and closed the door behind her.

They walked down the porch steps and down the road in silence. Sakura was still thinking about her nightmare and Sasuke.

_"I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."_

The imagery of Sasuke with his cursed seal during the Chuunin exam had scared her. That face of his . . .

She could never forget that horrifying feeling she had when she saw him attack the Sound Ninjas.

"_I am an avenger."_

_Will he be like that when he goes to kill Itachi? _She asked herself worriedly.

Sasuke glanced sideways at her. Sakura had a worried expression on her face and she was not talking.

_What's wrong with her? _He thought to himself. _Well, it's not like I care or anything . . . but . . . _

"Sakura."

"Hm?" Sakura looked up towards him.

He felt his cheeks flushing already before he could say what he was going to say. ". . . You look . . . very nice in that dress." He quickly shifted his eye contact away from her.

Sakura glanced at him, cheeks turning rosy pink.

"Th-thank you, Sasuke-kun," she said, smiling. "You look so . . . so handsome in your suit."

". . . . . ."

Sakura felt her heart lighten as she walked a little bit closer by Sasuke's side. He didn't move away.

She smiled.

The two of them continued on the road in silence, but this time, they felt more comfortable with each other's presence.

-

I'm sorry if this chapter was pretty darn crappy! My mind kept jumping around! Please forgive me! Please review! I will try to update sooner. )


	4. Ch4 The Dance

-0-My Sakura-0-

Thank you so much, my wonderful reviewers! (smiles) I will continue to do my best! Enjoy! This is an extremely long chapter! So please have fun!

P.S. I am extremely sorry for updating so late! I have been sick for the past week and have been having troubles with keeping up with school work! So I took some time to recover both mentally and physically! Sorry!

* * *

At exactly 7:00 pm, the doors to the school opened as students started going inside to the large gymnasium. Many marveled at the streamers on the ceilings, the coloured lights all around, and the nicely set dining tables all around. The round tables were placed around the gym's outer horizon, and a large empty space in the middle provided space for a dance floor.

Along the front of the gym were a line of large tables. On top of the tables were large dishes of food, still with lids on top of them. Some of the jounin teachers were helping with carrying large bottles of pop and cups to each dining table while others helped with carrying utensils and napkins.

The lights were dimmed in the gym and soft music was played on a stereo connected to the large speaker phones around the back of the gym.

_Well, looks like everyone is coming,_ Tsunade thought, impressed with how nicely the gym had been arranged. She watched as young ninjas began to walk inside the large gymnasium through the now opened doors.

* * *

Ino and Shikamaru arrived the earliest out of everyone else from their group of friends. They stood outside the main entrance, people passing by them to go inside. 

"Guess we arrived earlier than Forehead girl," Ino said as she looked around. They had not gone into the gym just yet, but were outside the school, near the swing set and the large tree. Shikamaru, dressed in a black suit with a black tie, looked around.

Secretly, he had to admit that Ino actually looked quite pretty today. She didn't act half as snobbish as she usually did, and for some unknown reason, she kept turning to and away from him every few minutes. Shikamaru sighed. _Women . . . how troublesome . . ._

Ino bit her lip as she tried to stop blushing. She kept staring at Shikamaru every few minutes, probably because he looked so handsome in a suit, and turning away from him every time he turned to look back at her. Her heart was pounding away like a drum.

_I'm acting like an idiot! Why can't I just act normal around him tonight? _

"Hey, look! There's Chouji, Kiba, and Shino," Shikamaru told her. "OY!" He waved to his friends. All three of them were dressed in suits and even Akamaru had a bow tie around his neck.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji ran over to him, while the other two walked towards him.

"Hey Ino! You look so nice," Chouji said cheerfully.

"Huh? Oh. Thank you."

"So where the heck are your partners?" Shikamaru asked them.

"Oh. We told our cousins that we were going to meet them here," Kiba answered, as Akamaru barked once in greeting. "And don't forget Shikamaru, that we're going to make you dance with you-know-who tonight," he whispered to Shikamaru when Ino had turned to look in a different direction. Shikamaru gulped. He had been hoping that Kiba had forgotten about that idea of him dancing with Ino, but it seemed like he had not.

Akamaru suddenly barked loudly and Kiba looked up to the dog sitting on top of his head. "What's up, Akamaru?" The dog barked back an answer and Kiba looked behind him.

"What do you know? It's Naruto with Hinata! Hey you two!" He waved towards the couple, who was still on the path outside the school entrance. Naruto looked around, then spotted the small group.

"HEY!" he yelled back as he and Hinata walked down the road to the school entrance. Hinata still had her hands around Naruto's elbow as they walked. Her cheeks were very VERY red, and she kept biting her bottom lip.

She had never been _this_ close to Naruto before, nor had he ever let her stay by his side like this.

_Could it be . . . that he doesn't hate me? _She wondered to herself as they walked into the school grounds.

"Hey Shikamaru! Who's your partner?" Naruto asked loudly.

"You idiot! _I'm _his partner!" Ino exclaimed in a sharp voice, hooking her elbow around Shikamaru's elbow and pointing a thumb at herself. Shikamaru stared at her arm around his, but didn't question. Even Ino herself didn't quite understand what had come over her, but she pretended to be confident with what she was doing.

Kiba, Chouji, and Shino however, were chuckling to themselves and grinning at Shikamaru. Shikamaru finally realized that they were teasing him about him and Ino and turned red.

"Okay, okay!" Naruto said, trying to hide behind Hinata from Ino's piercing death glare. Hinata politely greeted Kiba, trying her best not to hint that she was embarrassed with the fact that Naruto was so close to her.

"Hello, Kiba-kun," she said shyly.

"Hey Hinata! Wow, you look very nice tonight in that dress," Kiba said, smiling.

"Thank you," she replied. Akamaru jumped off from Kiba's head and landed in Hinata's open arms. She had finally let go off Naruto's elbow earlier when Naruto had been hiding behind her.

"So where are _your _partners?" Naruto asked Kiba, Chouji and Shino.

"Oh. We're swapping cousins," Chouji answered. "They're meeting us inside the gym."

"We just have to pretend we're going with them as partners, but once we get inside, we'll get to roam around free," Kiba said, grinning widely. Shino nodded in agreement.

"Hey, look," Ino said suddenly, looking behind Naruto and Hinata. "It's Neji and Ten-Ten."

Turning around, Naruto spotted Neji and Ten-Ten, who had just entered into the school grounds.

"Hey Neji!" Naruto greeted him loudly. Neji nodded to him in greeting while Ten-Ten waved to Hinata, who waved back.

"So how come you guys haven't gone inside yet?" Neji asked the boys, as Ten-Ten went over to talk with Ino and Hinata. As usual, the girls gathered in a small group while the boys gathered in their small group for small conversations.

"We were just going to wait till more people came, that's all," Shikamaru said, shrugging.

"Besides," Shino said, putting his hands into his pockets. "Most of us just got here."

"Looks like _you've _managed to snag the girl of your dreams to be _your _partner, Hyuuga," Kiba said, nudging him with his elbow.

Neji glared at everyone's teasing and hinting face expressions before saying in a very tight voice, "She is _just_ a friend, that's all." That response brought up even more comments added to the conversation.

"Or is she?"

"Ten-Ten and I are only friends. There's nothing going on—"

"Really, Hyuuga? Then why are you blushing?"

"I am _not_ blushing-"

"See, he IS blushing!"

"If you really like her that much, then why don't you just tell her? It'll be more troublesome if you're too late and she gets taken by someone else."

"What the heck! For the last time, guys, I don't like her in that sense."

"Is it just me, or is Hyuuga losing his cool, here?"

Meanwhile, the girls were discussing about how nice it was to finally have a dance.

"I'm so glad we finally get to do something not ninja-like with each other," Ten-Ten said, smiling.

"If it weren't for the fifth Hokage, we'd probably never have events such as this," Ino said. Hinata nodded quietly while Ten-Ten looked around.

"So you two didn't manage to snag Sasuke?" she asked, turning to look at the group of boys just a few feet next to them. Hinata shook her head.

"You wouldn't believe who did," Ino said crossly. She was still depressed about the fact that Sakura had managed to get Sasuke as her partner.

"Sakura?" Ten-Ten asked. Ino nodded.

"I'm actually not that surprised though," Ten-Ten said as Ino raised her eyebrow. "I mean, the only fact I'm surprised with is that Sasuke himself is even going to this dance. But other than that, it would only seem logical for him to choose her, since they're all the same team. And he's been around with her more than any other girl, I guess."

"Yeah. I'm actually kind of jealous about Sakura and Sasuke coming here as partners," Ino confessed. Ten-Ten nodded.

"You're not the only one," she murmured. "But I'm glad I'm going with Neji to the dance." She froze. Her heart pounded as she tried to correct herself. "I m-mean, I hardly know Sasuke himself, other than him being the most popular guy in school," she quickly added, trying her best not to sound like she liked Neji. Hinata tried not to giggle as she watched Ten-Ten's face turn pink.

"Say, Ino? Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, as the group of boys merged with the group of girls once again.

"Sakura? Hm. I don't know. She should be coming soon. She told me herself that she was going to leave at 6:30."

"Hm. I wonder who Sakura-chan is going to the dance with?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Actually—" Ino was about to say, but Naruto cut her off.

"Thick Brows was always giving her flowers and neat stuff," Naruto continued on. Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged glances, which read 'this-stupid-idiot-still-hasn't-figured-it-out-yet!'.

"And he's always chasing after her," Naruto rambled on, a very serious thinking expression on his face. Ten-Ten, Kiba, and Ino sighed at the same time exasperatedly. Naruto finally raised a fist in the air.

"That's it! Sakura-chan HAS to be going with Thick Brows!" (Everyone falls anime-style).

"Hey everyone!" Turning towards the direction of the sound, everyone spotted Sakura, dressed in her pink dress with a smile on her face.

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed.

"Am I late?" she asked.

"No, you just made it," Ino answered, smiling.

"Phew. That's good. Hey Ten-Ten and Hinata," Sakura said. Ten-Ten and Hinata waved back.

"Um, Naruto, just to tell you," Neji said to Naruto. "If you were referring 'Thick Brows' to Lee, he's not Sakura's partner. He's going with one of Ten-Ten's friends."

"Huh! Wait," Naruto exclaimed. "If _he's _not Sakura's partner, then WHO is!"

"Yo, scaredy-cat," said a low but familiar voice from behind him.

Spinning around, Naruto found himself staring into Sasuke's dark onyx eyes. Sasuke blinked.

"WHAAAAAAAATTTTT!"

"NARUTO!" BAM! Sakura hit him right on the head, causing a huge bruise to surface on top of his head like an apartment building. Everyone quickly took a step away from Sakura.

"Geez!" Sakura said, annoyed. "You didn't have to yell so loud you know!"

"Argh! Why you freakin' snake-in-the-grass!" Naruto yelled loudly, pointing at Sasuke. Everyone stared at him.

"What?" Sasuke stated plainly.

"You – you – you!" Apparently, Naruto couldn't think of a word to describe him, so he stood there stuttering away, still pointing a trembling hand at his friend.

"What's going on out here?" Everyone turned in the direction of the voice. It was Kurenai, dressed in a beautiful and long dark purple dress with a low kimono styled collar.

"Sensei," Hinata said, bowing towards her Jounin instructor.

"Sensei," Kiba and Shino said right after Hinata.

"Hello, Hinata, Kiba and Shino. My, you all look so beautiful and handsome today," Kurenai said, as she glanced at the students.

Naruto took finally took his eyes off Sasuke, still fuming with rage, as Kurenai walked up to them. "You students should go inside now. The dinner is about to begin and you still have to find seats."

With that, she turned towards the large entrance door and held it open as the students entered the building. The girls walked in first, with the boys following them in afterward. Naruto managed to squish along side of Sasuke, hissing into his ear, "You bastard! All this time, you wanted to take Sakura-chan to the dance! That's why you wouldn't let me carry her, you –"

"First of all, _Kakashi_ was the one who assigned me to carry her," he hissed back, shooting a glare at Naruto's direction. "Second of all, I'm only going with her as a friend because she asked me first and I didn't have a partner yet-"

"Yeah right, you selfish jerk! _You_ wanted her all along, and you just didn't want me to have her as my partner!" Naruto insisted. Sasuke glared at him, unable to answer right away.

_No . . . that's not true, Uchiha. It **can't** be true, right? . . . _

Flinching, with his heard pounding away like a drum, he muttered to Naruto, "Well, like it or not, it's already too late."

"WHY YOU—"

"Naruto! Please lower your voice!" Kurenai said firmly. "Please, enter," she told the students as they approached the entrance to the gym. It seemed dark inside and laughter and music could be heard.

Naruto glared at Sasuke one more time, this time in defeat, and walked into the gym with Hinata right beside him. Sakura finally finished her conversation with Ino and joined Sasuke.

"Isn't this fun, Sasuke-kun?" she asked with excitement. Sasuke glanced at her sideways, trying not to stare into her eyes for too long, and shrugged.

"Whatever," he replied flatly. "It's still a stupid dance to me."

Neji and Ten-Ten walked in after Ino and Shikamaru. Chouji, Kiba, and Shino found a table with enough seats for them and waved to the group to come over. Obviously, they had already met with their cousins and had ditched them once they had met with each other.

Many other young ninjas were around the gym socializing. Most of the Jounins were already there, looking after all the food and decorations for the dance.

"I can't wait to eat!" Chouji and Naruto both yelled coincidentally at once, as soon as everyone sat down.

"Just make sure you two leave enough food for everyone else," Kiba chuckled as Akamaru glanced around the table. Naruto and Hinata were sitting right next to each other, with Neji and Ten-Ten sitting next to Hinata and Sasuke and Sakura sitting next to Naruto. Ino and Shikamaru sat next to Sakura while Chouji, Kiba, and Shino sat right next to Shikamaru.

Ino looked around. The gym was beautifully decorated with dark curtains, streamers, and coloured lights. Above the ceiling, she had noticed that a disco ball was put up, even though it was not turned on yet. Many of the tables in the gym were already taken by other ninjas and most of the Jounins were sitting in a larger table especially reserved for them. Since the gym was extremely big, it had enough room to fit in many people, along with tables and chairs.

"I still don't get why we have to attend this dance," Shikamaru grumbled as he folded his hands around his chest. "I mean, not everyone likes to go to troublesome dances."

"I agree," Neji said. "I think it's a complete waste of time. But I guess ONE dance wouldn't hurt."

"Just as long as they don't make us do this again," Kiba agreed.

The girls exchanged glances with each other. Obviously, _they_ were the only ones who were really excited about the dance.

"Well, it's not THAT bad, is it?" Sakura asked out loud. "I mean . . . you're not going to die or anything right?"

"It could be worse," Naruto said. "But I still don't like this idea of forcing us to go to a dance. Especially when they said that we _had_ to find partners. I'm only excited about coming here because of all the food—"

Hinata stayed quiet as he went on. Obviously, she'd taken this comment the wrong way.

_Naruto-kun . . . do you . . . d-do you . . . do you hate me . . . ? Are you saying that you don't like m-me being here with you? . . . _

"But if Hinata hadn't agreed to go the dance with me, then I probably wouldn't be as happy as I am now."

_Huh?_ Hinata turned to look at Naruto, her face completely red. Naruto grinned at her.

Bah-bump! Bah-bump! Her heart thumped loudly as her face felt very warm.

"N-Naruto-kun . . ." she finally managed to whisper out.

"Don't forget, Hinata! I still owe you for being my wonderful partner! If it weren't for you, then I'll probably be stuck with some weird girl. Thanks once again!" He grinned again.

"I . . . uh . . ." She could feel Neji's eyes resting on her as Naruto stared at her once again. "You . . . you're w-w-welcome."

When Naruto turned around to talk to Sasuke (or more like argue with him again about the 'Sakura partner' issue), Hinata turned to her cousin, who was smiling at her. She smiled back, embarrassed that he had witnessed her like this once again.

"Hey look, the Hokage is standing in the front. I think she's going to make an announcement or something," Kiba told the group. Looking towards the front of the gym, where all the long tables were with trays of food on them, everyone could see that the Hokage had stood up and was now waiting for the gym to settle down.

Finally, the noise died down, and everyone's focus was on the Hokage. Tsunade cleared her voice and smiled.

"Good evening everyone! Welcome! We're happy to let you know that our chefs have done an excellent job today into preparing delicious dinner dishes for us tonight."

There was a round of applause and a few whoops among the clapping. Tsunade smiled at Shizune, who was standing nearby, and continued on.

"Tonight, we won't act like ninjas! Instead, we will act like ourselves and socialize with each other. Please, enjoy the rest of your evening with all your friends. And don't forget to thank all the Jounins for helping with this event."

Another loud round of applause filled the gymnasium. Tsunade stepped back and walked next to Shizune as one of the Jounins took her place in the front.

"We will be calling up a few tables at once in order to get food. A sushi platter will be put on each table momentarily. Please wait for the call for seconds if you would like more food." With that, the gym once again filled with the noises of chattering, the clattering of dishes, and the sound of soft but comfortable music.

* * *

30 minutes later, everyone was eating the delicious food that was cooked for them. 

"Man, this is life!" Naruto said, as he held up a chicken drumstick in one hand and a fork with a fish ball in the other.

"Now they should do _this_ more often," Chouji agreed, stuffing a forkful of noodles into his mouth.

"Ai. Is food the only thing you ever think about all day?" Ino sighed, taking a sip of pop.

"You know, the Hokage's really nice to let us do this type of thing," Ten-Ten piped up. "Normally, all we ever do are missions and other ninja-related things, but this is rather pleasant for a change."

Hinata nodded in agreement timidly.

"Heh. Is this dance actually _that_ meaningful to you girls?" Kiba snorted as he gave Akamaru a piece of chicken.

"Well, YEAH!" Sakura, Ino, and Ten-Ten exclaimed at once. Hinata nodded quickly this time, with a firm look on her face.

"Well, may I ask for what reason is it so important?" Neji asked, glancing at the girls.

"Well . . . uh . . . I . . . uh . . ."

"Uh . . . actually . . . um . . ."

"W-ell . . . it's a-actually . . . hm . . ."

". . . . . ."

Secretly, each girl had been hoping to finally spend time with the one they loved. For many times, they had been daydreaming about the possible ways of possibly uniting with that one special person. And the dance seemed like the only and meaningful thing for such a thing to occur.

All the guys stared at the girls as their faces turned into deep shades of pink, just like Hinata's face. No one had given a straight answer to Neji's question and each one was still stuttering or daydreaming about their real answer to that question.

"Who knows," Shikamaru muttered as he ate a piece of sushi with crab meat and wasabi.

Sasuke didn't speak to Sakura through the whole dinner. In fact, he hardly spoke at all. The only time he had actually spoken was when Naruto had argued with him again about the whole 'Sakura-partner' issue.

"Just drop it," he had answered in annoyance when the two of them had come back first from getting their first dish of food. "I agreed to be Sakura's partner because she asked me to and that's final."

"Hm . . ." Naruto had observed him for a moment, and then with a sly grin on his face, had hissed at him, "Sasuke, could it be possible that you actually have a crush on Sakura-chan?"

BAM!

Needless to say, Naruto had ended up on the floor with a bruise on his head.

"I told you already! I am only going with Sakura as a friend!" he had snapped once he had sat down.

"Owww . . . okay . . . okay . . . I give up. . ."

Sasuke was actually pretty lucky that only he and Naruto were present at that moment when Naruto had questioned him about him liking Sakura. He tried to ignore what Naruto had questioned him for the rest of the dinner when the others had returned to eat.

But that question still pondered in his mind as he silently listened to the conversations of his friends and classmates.

_"Sasuke, could it be possible that you actually have a crush on Sakura-chan?" _

_"Sasuke, you're in love with her, aren't you?" _

_No . . . that can't be truly possible . . . right?_

He felt his heart flutter as he felt a bit uneasy. Looking sideways, he saw that Sakura was talking to Ino again, smiling. That dress fitted her very well, and it did make her appearance look more beautiful.

_What the hell! Did I just admit to myself that Sakura looks pretty? _

Dread filled his heart as he turned away from her and stared down at his now empty plate.

_" . . . you're **in love** with **her**, aren't you . . ."_

_" . . . you actually **have a crush** on **Sakura-chan** . . ."_

_DAMMIT! I don't love her! I can't love her! She means NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING to me! _

Sasuke's hands clenched against his knees from below the table cloth. Then he heard a single voice within his mind.

_But if you don't love her, then why do you keep thinking about her? _

For a moment, the world around him stayed quiet. The music seemed to have faded and all the conversations around him seemed to have muted. The only thing he could hear was his heart beat.

_I . . . don't love her . . . yet . . . I keep thinking . . . about her . . .? Why? Am I . . . am I just lying to myself?. . . Or is it something else? _

He stood up. Sakura glanced at him.

"Sasuke-kun?" He didn't turn towards her.

"I'll be back," he muttered under his breath. He pushed in his chair and walked off.

"Wait, Sasuke-kun!" she tried to call him back again, but he didn't turn back.

"Wonder what's eating him," Naruto mumbled through a mouthful of cookie. Sakura looked at Naruto, then glanced back at the direction Sasuke had gone off.

* * *

Sasuke walked outside the gym and into the school hallway. Wandering through it, he walked down farther and farther until he was right in front of the front door, away from all the noise inside the gym. 

Placing a hand against the door, he pushed it and opened it. Stepping outside of the school building, he walked slowly towards the large tree with the swing set in the school entrance.

It was pretty quiet outside. No one was in sight. Slowly walking up to the tree, he placed a hand on the old swing set, and leaned against the tree, sighing miserably.

_Why . . . why am I still feeling like this? I've come to a decision and I will follow that decision. So, why am I so hesitant to go on? What is keeping me back? _

He clenched his fist.

_Could it possibly . . . be that I . . ._ _I . . . _

"What are you doing out here, Sasuke?" a voice suddenly said. Sasuke remained silent for a while before he answered the voice. Once again, he tried to act like he was not surprised, although this time he could not do it as calmly as he usually did.

". . . Why are you so late again?" he shot back. Kakashi stepped out from the shadows, dressed fully in a black and white suit with a dark blue tie. Sasuke didn't turn to face Kakashi, but rather turned his body slightly in the opposite direction of his teacher, frowning.

"Well, as you know, I was on my way here and then some a pretty girl asked me to go and rescue her cat from a tree," Kakashi said cheerfully. "But that doesn't explain why you are out here when everyone else is partying inside."

Sasuke didn't answer him, but sighed. Kakashi looked into the now darkening sky, his back towards Sasuke.

"Have you considered your decision yet, Sasuke?" he asked after a moment of silence, staring up into the sky. "You must have realized by now that whatever you do now can greatly affect your future."

Sasuke glanced sideways at his teacher, who was now staring at the sky.

"What do you-" he started to say, but Kakashi cut him off.

"Stop pretending Sasuke," Kakashi murmured. "I know you well, and what you're doing right now is totally pointless. Stop lying to yourself. You know you've fallen for Sakura-"

"SHUT UP! Just shut up!" Sasuke shouted. "I am NOT in love with her! So stop acting like you know me and just shut up!"

"Sasuke," Kakashi said calmly, ignoring his pupil's deadly stare. "Calm down. Ai, you get riled up so easily." Kakashi averted his stare to the swing set as Sasuke panted, breathless from yelling.

He could feel his face grow warm as he panted. _What's wrong with you, Uchiha? Why are you so tensed up today? _

Leaning back onto the tree once more, he lowered his head, frustrated. After a few minutes of pure silence, Kakashi sighed.

"You're planning on leaving Konoha, aren't you, Sasuke?"

Awkward silence once again filled the atmosphere. Kakashi spoke up again after another minute of silence.

"If you are still planning to kill Itachi, Sasuke, then I must tell you this: revenge won't reward you in anyway. Those who seek revenge are of the worse kind. I've seen many incidents which resulted from revenge, and believe me, it wasn't a pretty sight."

Sasuke's head drooped down as he stared onto the ground.

"I know. But that's the only reason I exist here. I was born to be an avenger, and nothing can ever stop me. That's why I'm leaving."

Sasuke looked at his Jounin instructor, who looked back at him. Kakashi shook his head.

"Sasuke, are you that afraid of falling in love?" he asked. Sasuke's eyes darkened. "Is that the real reason why you've decided to go with that choice of revenge and leave Konoha?"

". . . . . . ."

The wind blew, whisking back Sasuke's black hair and blowing it to one side. He allowed his hair to sway in the wind, before he turned his head to one side and back to the other, his hair settling back in to place and away from the front of his eyes.

He felt his pulse quicken. He turned away from his instructor.

_Curse you, Kakashi. Always interfering with my problems . . . Wait. What the hell am I saying? Sakura means nothing to me! Nothing! So why am I scared of falling in l_

"I can't force you to choose a path, Sasuke," Kakashi murmured. "But whatever path you choose, make sure it's the one you really want to go down. Not all paths are pleasant." With that, he walked past Sasuke slowly and headed towards the door.

Sasuke remained silent, deep in thought.

_I am making the right choice, aren't I? But if so, then why am I still regretting it? Am I this weak!_

"Well, might as well go in," Kakashi said cheerfully once again as he stood in front of the front entrance. "The Hokage's probably going to scream at me for being late, but it's better than not showing up at all."

Sasuke watched as his teacher walked towards the door and open it. Kakashi turned back to his pupil and nodded his head towards Sasuke, motioning him to go inside.

Sasuke frowned, then finally sighed and walked into the school with Kakashi right behind him.

* * *

"Wow. Look at all the girls dancing," Kiba chuckled as loud music rang through the speakers. 

After the last dishes were collected, the long tables which were holding the food were put away and a DJ arrived. As soon as the mikes and equipment were set up, the DJ had immediately put on a fast song. 30 minutes later, half of the students were dancing on the dance floor. The other half were either just sitting in their seats chatting to each other or they were just listening to the music.

"Come on," Sakura and Ino had said. "Let's go!" The two girls then dragged Ten-Ten and Hinata up to the dance floor with them. Then they jumped around, dancing and laughing at the same time.

The guys however, were all sitting together at the same table, and were only observing the dancers or talking with each other.

"Hinata seems to be having a great time," Naruto said, as he glanced at the smiling Hyuuga girl. Neji smiled at that. But what Naruto had said was true indeed. For the first time, he had actually seen Hinata enjoying herself in such a social event.

"Say, Naruto?"

"Yeah, Shikamaru?"

"What happened to Uchiha?"

"Sasuke? Hm . . . I really don't know." Naruto looked around for a bit, then spotted his friend. "There he is! OY! SASUKE!"

Sasuke looked up, a bit annoyed at being called from across the room.

"Where did you go?" Naruto asked as soon as Sasuke sat down.

". . . . . ." Sasuke didn't answer him, but turned to look at the bunch of people dancing. He immediately spotted Sakura, along with Ino, Ten-Ten and Hinata.

"Yo! Naruto!"

"Eh! Kakashi-Sensei! You actually came!" Naruto exclaimed, as Sasuke quickly adverted his eyes away from Sakura.

"Enjoying yourselves so far?" Kakashi asked the boys at the table. A few shrugged while the others half-nodded.

"Well, it could be worse," Neji murmured as Kakashi walked away cheerfully. "They could be forcing us to dance or something-"

"NEJI!"

"Huh?" Neji was shocked to find Gai Sensei right behind him, with his usual sparkling smile and super shiny bobbed hair. Almost everyone at the table immediately anime-sweatdropped as Gai did another 'nice-guy-pose'.

Neji sighed. _Now what?_

"Neji!"

"What . . . ?"

"Why are you not enjoying yourself! This is the time where you young people should experience the joys of youth—"

"I didn't even want to come here in the first place," Neji grumbled, shaking his head.

Gai observed him for a moment, then suddenly noticed that the DJ had switched on the slow song, "First Love" by Utadu Hikaru (one of my favourite songs by the way). The sparkle on his smile gleamed once again as an idea suddenly struck him. Neji noticed the extra sparkle that had appeared on his sensei's smile and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

_Hm?_

". . . !"

Before Neji could react, Gai had taken him by the shoulders and was now pushing him onto the dance floor.

"Gai! What are you doing!" Neji exclaimed, still shocked at what was happening. The guys all gawked at him as Gai pushed him onto the dance floor.

"I see that you still haven't experience the true joys of youth," Gai said, continually pushing his stubborn student across the dance floor. "Therefore, I will force you to do one of the great pleasures of youth: you will dance with a girl!"

"What!"

"Holey! Is he actually forcing _Neji _to dance!" Naruto said, completely astounded as he watched Neji from the table, just like everyone else.

"Looks like it," Shino murmured.

Back on the dance floor, Gai looked around, then spotted his target and pushed Neji across to the dance floor.

"I am NOT going to do something so ridiculous!" Neji snapped at Gai.

"Nonsense! You're mature enough to handle something as youthful and as joyful as this," Gai said, flashing another brilliant smile.

Before Neji could snap at his instructor again, he suddenly spotted a familiar person a little bit ahead of him. He felt his face flush suddenly.

"Wait a minute! You don't mean –"

"Don't worry Neji! This is youth!"

* * *

Ten-Ten giggled. She had been jumping around, dancing with Ino, Sakura, and Hinata for almost half an hour now. 

"Wow! I can't believe this is so fun," Ino replied, laughing. "And the guys are probably still moping about why they had come here in the first place."

"You want to go back to sit down for a little bit before we come back?" Sakura suggested.

"Yeah sure," Ten-Ten answered. She actually wanted to dance some more, but sitting down for a little bit wouldn't hurt much.

Hinata walked next to her as Sakura and Ino walked ahead of them. They passed through a very packed group of dancers and walked through the parts of the dance floor where there were less people. Sakura and Ino had already gone ahead of them.

Suddenly, Hinata tapped on Ten-Ten's arm. Turning her head to the right, she was extremely surprised to see Neji, being pushed behind from Gai Sensei. He looked extremely annoyed and embarrassed.

"N-Neji?" she stuttered.

"Um . . . I uh . . ." he murmured.

"Ten-Ten, I shall leave this gentleman here with you," Gai said smiling again. With that, he gave Neji a firm-push and he stumbled forward towards Ten-Ten.

Ten-Ten, surprised to suddenly see Neji come towards her, quickly held up her hands and 'caught' him by the shoulders before he crashed into her. Hinata watched with interest as Neji murmured an apology and absentmindedly place his hand on Ten-Ten's wrist, her hands still on his shoulders.

"Sorry," Neji had murmured to her as he placed a hand around her left wrist.

"It's okay," she answered as he straightened up. She stared into his eyes, as he stared back into hers.

An image of her dancing with him suddenly flashed through her mind.

She suddenly realized that her hands were still on his shoulders and that they were still staring at each other, in the same position they had been five seconds ago.

Neji suddenly became aware of this fact too. He carefully took his hand of Ten-Ten's wrist as she took her hands of his shoulders.

"Sorry," they said at the same time. Ten-Ten smiled at that, trying to hold back her giggling as Neji's face turned red. He suddenly became aware of the fact that Gai and Hinata were still watching them. He knew that Gai wasn't going to leave them alone until he had asked her that one question.

He sighed and took a deep breath. _Still can't believe I'm actually doing this . . . but what the heck? Here goes –_

Determined to ignore Gai's stare and Hinata's eyes, he firmly stared into Ten-Ten's eyes, trying very hard not to look away.

"Ten-Ten," he said nervously.

"Yes?" she answered, staring innocently into his eyes. Her face was starting to glow pink.

He cleared his throat. "W-Would you . . . would you l-l-like to dance with m-me?" he said.

Ten-Ten's eyes blinked once as her mind almost exploded.

She felt her heart thumping against her throat.

_Is this a dream! IS THIS REAL! Could this really be HAPPENING! _

She quickly snapped out of her thinking. Neji now looked at her with a slightly awkward expression.

_I have to say something quick, even if this IS a dream, otherwise he'll think that I'm rejecting him! Quick! Say something!_

"Y-yes," she said, her voice slightly quiet. She decided to repeat herself again, so that Neji would know that she was serious about her answer. "Yes, I would like to dance with you."

Neji looked at her, relieved at her answer. He suddenly felt as if a huge weight was lifted off his heart. He smiled at her, shyly. Ten-Ten smiled back, a new sense of hope in her eyes.

Quickly glancing sideways, Neji caught the sight of two people dancing. The boy had his arms around the girl's waist while the girl had her arms around his neck. He knew that they couldn't go into something like that so quickly, so he turned back to Ten-Ten and very carefully, placed both hands around her waist. Ten-Ten fidgeted at first, uncomfortable and awkward with this sudden new motion, but very slowly, adjusted to it with a new feeling of comfort. She placed her hands onto Neji's shoulders, very close to his neck, but not around them just yet, so that he wouldn't get the idea that she was wishing for so long to dance with him. _I'll just have to play it cool, so that he wouldn't get uncomfortable around me. If I speed things too much, I might scare him off,_ she thought as they looked into each other's eyes again. She could feel herself warming up and her cheeks growing hotter and hotter.

Finally, Ten-Ten moved forwards with her feet, allowing Neji to move back. Then Neji moved forwards again, while Ten-Ten moved back. Pretty soon, the two moved in time slowly with the music, as they slowly circled around each other.

Gai flashed a thumbs-up from the side and slowly faded away as he left the two alone. Hinata smiled, happy for her cousin and nodded towards him.

Neji caught Hinata's eye and nodded back. With that, she turned around and left the pair alone to enjoy themselves.

Neji's mind filled with peace as he looked into Ten-Ten's eyes. _I can't believe it . . . I . . . I'm actually dancing with a GIRL for the first time! And that girl is Ten-Ten . . ._ His heart was still pounding as loud as a drum, but now, he felt a bit less awkward dancing, as they continued dancing to the slow song.

Neither one spoke for at least twenty seconds until Ten-Ten finally broke the spell.

"Have you ever done this before?" Ten-Ten asked shyly, as she let her hands move a bit closer to his neck.

"Heck no," he answered. "Have you?"

"No." Neji felt his face grow even hotter as she leaned close to him. She didn't stop leaning forwards until her mouth was next to his ear. "But I'm so glad that you're the first boy I have ever danced with," she whispered into his ear. Neji's eyes grew wide as he felt Ten-Ten rest her head onto his shoulder, her arms now wrapping around his neck.

_Why . . . why am I feeling this . . . this feeling? Is this what love feels like?. . . _

He gently closed his arms around her waist. As the love song continued to play, each one felt as if they were in heaven.

* * *

At that same moment, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata had arrived back at the table. 

It wasn't long before the whole group could see that Neji had asked Ten-Ten to dance and was dancing with her.

"I can't believe _Neji_ would be the first one to make a move," Naruto blurted out as he watched Neji dance with Ten-Ten.

"I never even thought he would even dance at all," Ino sighed as she thought of how lucky Ten-Ten was to dance with the guy of her dreams.

"Speaking of dance," Kiba said loudly as he elbowed Shikamaru in the ribs.

"Huh?" Shikamaru had been praying with all his heart that Kiba would have forgotten about him dancing with Ino, but it turned out that no one did. Chouji and Shino now stared at him as well. Shikamaru gulped.

"It's YOUR turn, lazy bum!" Kiba exclaimed as he stood up, his shadow hovering over Shikamaru.

"My turn for what?"

"YOUR TURN TO DANCE, you idiot!"

"Shikamaru, come on! Stop pretending you don't know anything when really you've been thinking about it all this time," Chouji chuckled.

"But dance with who?"

"Who else?" Shino answered him. Shikamaru sighed. The answer was _that_ obvious, wasn't it?

He quickly looked around for an escape route, but Kiba had his hands clamped tightly onto his shoulders. Shikamaru gulped once again as he looked up.

"You're not going anywhere, until you've danced with Ino," Kiba growled. Shikamaru sighed in defeat.

_How troublesome . . ._

"Now, you'd better start moving Romeo, unless you want to see some blood-"

"Okay, okay!" Shikamaru piped up in defeat. With Chouji and Kiba on both his sides, and Shino right behind him, a very nervous and rather freaked out Shikamaru walked over and approached Ino, who happened to be talking to Sakura. She had sat down onto the other side of the table and had just finished her glass of pop.

Ino looked up from her conversation with Sakura as Shikamaru walked towards her, with Kiba, Chouji, and Shino all surrounding him.

_Huh? What is he doing? Is he going to ask me to – _

"I know this is troublesome for you, but do you want to dance?" he asked, in his usual lazy voice.

Ino blinked. She didn't know why, but suddenly her heart seemed to have picked up its beating and she felt very shy. She felt her cheeks heat up like the speed of light as she stared at Shikamaru.

_Why am I . . .? What's going on! This is only Shikamaru, not Sasuke-kun! But why . . . why am I reacting this way! _

"Um, s-sure." She got up from her seat and together with Shikamaru, walked towards the dance floor. She could feel everyone's eyes on them and she could hear from behind that Kiba was whooping while Naruto was cheering.

_Get a grip on yourself girl! _She told herself as she and Shikamaru stopped and faced each other. _This is just a dance with Shikamaru. It's nothing personal. That's it! _

But the moment Shikamaru placed one hand on her waist, she jumped.

"What?" he asked when she moved away from him after he had attempted to place a hand on her waist.

"Oh! Nothing! I'm sorry," she murmured as she walked back to him. She tried not to feel awkward as she felt his hands around her waist. Quickly, she placed her hands around his neck without thinking. She didn't look at him until they finally moved to the beat.

The moment their eyes met, neither one could break out of the eye contact they held. Ino was so shocked at herself when she found that she could not stop staring into Shikamaru's eyes.

She looked away finally when Shikamaru shifted his gaze away from her for just a moment. But as they danced, Ino found herself staring into his eyes and turning away from them every time they made eye contact for even three seconds.

"Are you trying to avoid me or something?" Shikamaru asked a little while later after they moved to the beat. He had noticed her looking away. Ino blushed a shade deeper.

"No, I'm not. It's just that . . . It's not like that at all!" she said, with feeling in her voice. Shikamaru blinked at that.

Ino quickly looked down as she felt her face flush again.

"It's just that . . . well . . . I never thought I'd be dancing with you, that's all," she said softly. Shikamaru however took this the wrong way.

"Hm. Well, I'm sorry I'm not your Sasuke-kun, Ino. I only asked to dance with you because you looked like you wanted to dance with someone. You didn't have to agree to this," he murmured. He backed a little away from her. "I can always transform myself to look like Uchiha—"

"No. It's nothing like that. Sasuke-kun is Sasuke-kun, but you are you."

Shikamaru stayed quiet for a while. Ino immediately realized that she had said something wrong.

"I'm sorry, but that didn't come out right," she said. "What I meant to say was that, well . . . um . . . lately, I've been thinking about Sasuke-kun and . . . well . . . you. And I've found myself comparing you to Sasuke-kun. Even though Sasuke-kun may be a genius, or the hottest guy in school, or even the dream guy I had always wished for, I have come to realize one thing."

"And that would be?" Shikamaru asked.

"It was _you_ who treated me like a friend, not him."

"Really? Like how?" he asked, as they moved a bit closer together unconsciously.

"You always believed in me," she answered gently. She looked into his eyes again, and for once, Shikamaru could see sincerity in those eyes. "You always trusted me and you were always nice to me, even though I was always acting like a jerk to you. I was always insulting you and saying how you weren't like Sasuke-kun when really, all this time, you were the one who was nice to me. Not Sasuke-kun."

They stayed quiet for moment as they listened to the slow song, not looking at each other.

_Why did I just say those things! Is it . . . no . . . but why do I feel this way towards Shikamaru?_

Finally, Shikamaru chuckled. Ino looked at him, curious.

"Ino, no matter what I do, I'll always be a lazy bum. I never even thought you would think of me as someone who would trust you." Ino flushed at that, then felt her heart go at ease when Shikamaru said, "Thank you."

Ino smiled. She moved closer to him, and this time he didn't move away. "You lazy ass!" she joked.

"Hey, I'll always be troublesome for someone as pretty as you," he laughed. Then he realized that he had just said that she was pretty and immediately blushed. Ino's cheeks were now as red as Hinata's own cheeks.

_He said I was pretty! Could it be that he doesn't hate me? _

She laughed as she rested her chin onto Shikamaru's shoulder. Somehow, they ended up dancing like a couple, even though they were always arguing.

* * *

"Wow, Shikamaru looks so . . . different now when he's dancing with a girl," Kiba said, scratching his head. 

"It looks really funny seeing him dance in the first place," Chouji laughed. "But I have to admit that he actually looks okay dancing with Ino. If it were someone he was dancing with, then that would have been a totally different story."

Sakura, who happened to be sitting next to Naruto at that moment when Ino left, noticed that Hinata, who was sitting right beside Naruto, was staring down on the floor nervously. Sasuke, who was sitting right next to Sakura, was silent.

Sakura nudged at Naruto.

"What?" he asked her when he turned towards her.

"Why don't you ask Hinata to dance?" she whispered into his ear.

"Hm? Me dance with her? Well," he said as he scratched the back of his neck. "I would like to, but I don't know how to dance. And if I make a fool of myself in front of her, then she might hate me-"

"You idiot! You'd better ask her quick, otherwise she'll think that you don't want to dance with her. Oh my goodness, you're so slow! Why would she hate you? Well, you DO want to dance with her, don't you?"

"W-ell, um . . . yeah. She's so nice to me all the time, I feel like I should do something back for her."

"Then ask her to dance!"

"But I don't know how to dance!"

"Just look at what Shikamaru and Neji are doing, and just follow them," Sakura hissed back. "Hurry up!"

"Um . . ." Naruto stared at his friends dancing for a few seconds, then finally smiled. "Okay then."

Sakura smiled back.

Naruto turned towards Hinata, who turned to glance at him when she noticed that he had turned towards her.

"Hinata, you want to dance too?" he asked excitedly. Hinata felt her heart pound against her throat as words ran through her mind like the speed of light.

_He wants to dance with me . . . .! He wants to dance with me . . . .! Oh my goodness! Wh-what should I d-do?_

"W-w-w-w-ell, I – I – I . . . um . . . I . . . uh . . ." Naruto stared at her innocently as she stuttered with her answer. Hinata squeezed her eyes tight as she felt her entire face change colour.

"Y-y . . . y-y-y-e-s-s-s-s-s ," she finally managed to sputter out.

"Yay!" Naruto grinned as he stood up. "I'm so glad you didn't turn me down." With that he grabbed her hand, and dragged her out of the chair before she could react. Hinata found herself following him quickly from behind as he pulled her hand.

They finally stopped after they walked through the dance floor. They were close to Neji and Ten-Ten, and Ino and Shikamaru.

"Okay," Naruto said as he turned towards Hinata, who felt her stomach swirl. "I'm sorry if I'm a bad dancer, because this is my first time dancing with a girl, so I will do my best."

"Naruto-kun . . ." Before she could react, Naruto had put his hands around her waist and was holding her close to him. Hinata put her hands near his neck as he smiled at her.

She felt a bit dizzy, due to the stuff atmosphere, but she could not stop staring into Naruto's eyes.

They slowly moved to the song, Naruto trying to avoid stepping on her feet.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said for the third time, when he had accidentally stepped on her feet.

"It's o-okay," she said nervously, trying to smile. Naruto grinned back at her. After a little while, they were actually dancing smoothly, as they moved in time with the music.

"I can't believe it: I'm actually dancing with you!" he said softly as Hinata stared at him again. "I never thought you would be so nice as to not reject me. All the girls seem to hate me, but you're always so nice to me. It makes me very happy."

"R-r-really?"

"Yup. I like that about you. You don't hate me. And even though I'm always so annoying, you never treat me as if I'm an annoying person."

"O-oh. Th-t-thank you, N-N-Naruto-kun," she said shyly as she looked down, flattered.

Naruto suddenly stepped forward and wrapped his arms all around her waist. They were so close that Hinata could actually rest her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were glimmering as her cheeks kept changing different shades of red and pink.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?"

"I . . . I . . ."

"What's wrong?" he asked, his breath against her neck.

Hinata bit down on her lip and sighed. "Oh . . . it's nothing."

She had almost told him that she liked him.

* * *

"Hey! Tsunade!" 

"Hm?" Tsunade looked up at the call of her voice. "Jiraiya! You actually came!"

"Heck yeah," he said, dressed in his usual clothes. "Couldn't miss seeing all the pretty ladies here." Tsunade anime-sweatdropped as she thought in her head, _Pervert! _

"So um . . . you enjoying yourself so far?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's so nice to finally see the young students here have some time to interact with each other," he said smiling, as he spotted Hinata and Naruto dancing.

"I agree," Tsunade replied as she took a sip of sake. "I though I'd give them a break. They've been working pretty hard for Konoha. That goes for all the Jounins too."

"Yeah. So . . . um . . . you want to dance?"

Tsunade pretended to be surprised, even though secretly, she had been expecting this question from him.

"Sure. Why not? It's been a while since a woman like me has had the chance to dance with anyone," she smiled, as she and Jiraiya joined hands onto the dance floor.

They danced to the music for a bit, before Jiraiya said, "Do you still remember the first time I asked you to dance?"

"Hmph! Oh yeah. You kept stepping all over my feet and I ended up having to ice my feet that whole night," Tsunade laughed in remembrance of the memory.

Behind them, Jounin instructors Kurenai and Asuma, and Genma and Shizune were dancing.

* * *

Sakura sighed. Everyone seemed to be having a great time dancing, while she was just sitting in her chair. Kiba, Chouji, and Shino had left the table to go wander about in the gym, so that she was now alone with Sasuke at the table. 

She was debating with herself whether or not she should ask Sasuke to dance with her. But since she had said that they were going to the dance as friends, she was expecting that he would probably turn her down. Besides, he wasn't the type to do this type of thing.

Sakura looked down at the floor as she listened to Utadu Hikaru's song. The words of the song played itself over and over again in her head.

(this is the first chorus in the real song)

"You are always gonna be my love  
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo  
I'll remember to love  
You taught me how  
You are always gonna be the one  
Ima wa mada kanashii love song  
Atarashi uta utaeru made"

_Ai . . . if only that would be the same for me,_ she thought, slightly depressed. _Hm . . . maybe I should just give it a try, even though he's probably going to turn me down. _

She glanced sideways at Sasuke, who happened to be staring at the floor. He looked as if he was deep in thought again. Sakura cleared her throat and turned towards him.

"Say, Sasuke-kun?"

He looked up at that.

"I . . . um . . . well, actually I was just wondering." She nervously tugged at her dress as Sasuke stared at her.

"What?" he murmured.

"Well, uh . . . you don't have to say yes, but I was just wondering if you would like to dance with me."

Sakura felt herself regretting what she had just asked him the moment he looked at her, eyebrows slightly narrowed.

_I guess that's a no . . . why did I ask him in the first place? It would have been better if I didn't ask him at all!_

Sasuke meanwhile, knew that he should refuse. But Sakura's innocent eyes stopped him from answering her right away.

His heart pulled at him and he felt his hands tremble slightly.

_Uchiha, do what you're supposed to do. Don't let yourself be pulled into it. You don't have an option._

He sighed after a few seconds. Sakura stared at him questionably.

Sasuke was about to shake his head when suddenly a voice said, "Sakura-san!"

Turning his head towards the voice, Sasuke saw that it was Lee who was standing in front of them. He immediately felt his eyes narrow, for no reason.

"Lee!" Sakura said, smiling.

"Sakura-san, I see that your ankle seems to have healed," Lee said, smiling. He was dressed in a black suit with a black tie.

"Yes, it recovered so much today compared to when I first hurt it," she answered. "Thank you for your concern."

"Say, Sakura-san," Lee said, taking a step towards Sakura. "Would you like to dance?"

" ? " Sasuke immediately felt his heart shudder. He watched in horror as Sakura smile shyly, completely flattered about being asked to dance. She seemed to be reconsidering her decision, and she glanced sideways with a concerned look to him, as if to ask him, "Do you mind?"

His heart beat increased as his jaw clenched. He could feel his fists tightening, for some unknown reason.

_What's . . . what's happening to me? Why am I acting like this? _

Without knowing how, he felt his body stand up and face Lee.

Lee and Sakura stared at him in surprise. Sasuke stared at Lee.

"Sorry, Lee," he muttered. "But Sakura's my partner. I can't let you dance with her."

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura blurted out, completely surprised with his reaction. Lee seemed to be a bit taken back by his response. No one would have thought that Sasuke would have said something like that. Even Sasuke himself was surprised by his own reaction. He glared at Lee for a little bit, before Lee finally came back to his senses and got the picture.

"O-oh. I'm sorry. Please forgive my rudeness, Sasuke. Sorry, Sakura-san, but it seems that I will not be able to dance with you."

"Huh? O-oh." Sakura seemed a bit embarrassed by Lee's response. Lee smiled at her.

"I'll see you later then, Sakura-san!" he said as he walked away, a bit disappointed. Sakura was still too shocked to respond and watched Lee disappear into the crowd of dancing people.

She then remembered that Sasuke was still standing next to her, glaring at the direction Lee had just gone off.

"Sasuke-kun?" she said softly. He was looking down. Concerned, Sakura turned her head so that she could see his face. He seemed to be still clenching his teeth. Sakura stared at him worriedly. "Sasuke-kun?"

Finally, he squeezed his eyes shut once and looked up to Sakura. His jaw was no longer clenched, and his piercing onyx eyes stared into her green ones.

"You said . . . you wanted to . . . dance . . . right?" he said, his voice slightly hoarse.

" . . . . . . Yeah. But if you don't want to, then it—"

"No. I've changed my mind." He looked away from her for two seconds before he turned his head back to her, and held up a hand, extended towards her. His cheeks were slightly pink, and he seemed to look nervous.

Sakura looked down at his hand, speechless. Soon, her eyes widened in realization as a smile slowly broke across her face. Very carefully, she placed her hand into Sasuke's extended one, and they walked to the dance floor together.

_What the hell are you doing, Uchiha!_

Sasuke felt extremely uneasy as he found himself stopping at the dance floor and turning to Sakura, who still couldn't believe what was happening.

Sakura waited for Sasuke to move first, as she stared at him, her green eyes shimmering brightly.

Slowly and rather reluctantly, Sasuke reached out with his right hand and placed it around Sakura's waist. He could feel his heart leaping into his throat, and he almost felt queasy.

_What . . . what's wrong with me? I still can't believe why the hell I'm doing this . . . but . . ._

Forcing himself to move, Sasuke placed his left hand around the other side of Sakura's waist and moved in closer. Sakura, seeing that Sasuke had placed both hands around her waist reached up and placed her arms near his neck on the shoulders.

Still looking into each other's eyes, Sakura stepped forward and Sasuke moved back. It all seemed like a dream.

_I don't believe it! I'm dancing with Sasuke-kun! It's just like . . ._ Sakura thought as she danced with Sasuke.

_. . . the dream, _Sasuke realized as he danced with Sakura.

The world around them seemed distant, and the music seemed to fill their ears. Everyone near them grew blurry as Sasuke and Sakura's eyes locked on with each other.

_I . . . don't understand. Why can't I stop staring at her? She means nothing to me! NOTHING! So . . . why am I reacting like this? And why am I doing this?_

Sakura could only blink as their eyes locked gazes.

_Is . . . is this real? Or is this yet another dream . . .? Dream . . . _

" ! " A sudden image of the Sharingan in her nightmare suddenly flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning. She shuddered. Sasuke eyed at her as she broke away her eye contact, for the first time since they danced.

_Uchiha Itachi . . .That's right,_ Sakura remembered. _Sasuke-kun . . . he still wants to kill him . . . _

The flashback of Sasuke first telling Team 7 his goals in his life replayed itself in her head.

"_I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."_

She knew very well that he would stop at nothing to kill the man he hated so much. But –

_What if he never comes back . . . alive? _

The image of Itachi plunging a kunai into Sasuke's head in her nightmare haunted her once again.

_Sasuke-kun . . . I don't want to lose him . . . No . . . I don't. Not like this. I don't want to lose him . . . he means everything to me . . . I must convince him to stop pursuing his ambition of killing Itachi . . . I don't want to see him get hurt anymore . . . I don't want him to be alone any more . . . I just wish that . . . I can tell him that . . .that I care about him. But how can I tell him? . . ._

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" Sakura turned back towards Sasuke, who was once again staring at her weirdly.

"Are you . . . are you okay?" he asked, eying at her.

"Yeah. I'm . . . I'm okay." She fought back a sudden emotion running through her, and bit her lip. Instead, she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck now, and stepped closer to him. He didn't move away.

Sasuke observed her for a moment, as they continued dancing to the love song. She looked distracted and in a way, timid. He looked away from her for a few seconds.

_She's got that strange look in her eyes again . . . just like earlier, when I went to pick her up . . . Is she lying? _

"Sasuke-kun . . ."

"Huh?" Sasuke looked down to see Sakura staring at him. Her eyes seemed to be brimming with tears. Sasuke could only stare at her.

_Sakura . . ._

The moment they locked gazes, it felt like they were in the dream again. That one dream where they were both dancing under the romantic moonlight, with their arms around each other.

Sakura stared into his raven eyes. Those handsome black raven eyes . . .

The world stood still around them. The Sharingan image disappeared from her mind, as well as the nightmare. Her heart pounded as her cheeks began to fill with colour.

_Sasuke-kun . . . I don't want to lose you, ever! You mean so much to me. That's why . . . I want to tell you . . . that I care about you. I want to tell you to stop pursuing Itachi so that you will be able to live in peace . . . . I want . . . I want to tell you that I love you. I love you oh so much. Should I . . . should I tell you now? . . ._

As she stared into Sasuke's eyes, she felt warmer again. Her heart pounded loudly as their eyes stayed locked on with each other's. Only the words of "First Love" could be heard at that moment.

"You will always be inside my heart  
Itsumo anata dake no basho ga aru kara  
I hope that I have a place in your heart too  
Now and forever you are still the one  
Ima wa mada kanashii love song  
Atarashii uta utaeru made

You are always gonna be my love  
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo  
I'll remember to love  
You taught me how  
You are always gonna be the one  
Mada kanashii love song  
Now & forever..."

_Sasuke-kun . . . you **will** always be inside my heart . . . you **are **always gonna my love . . . and you **are** always gonna be the one . . ._

She took a deep breath as her heart pounded like crazy. She felt a little dizzy from all the pressure.

_I do want you to know that I love you . . . is now the time?_

"Sasuke-kun . . . I . . . I . . ."

"Sa-Sakura . . ." Sasuke felt his own face flushing as he stared deeper into her eyes.

They were so close to each other now.

_I . . . . . I don't know why . . . but I can't stop myself from . . . looking at her . . . Why? Does she actually mean something to me? Is that why?_

Slowly, rather unconsciously, Sasuke leaned forwards towards Sakura as they looked even deeper into each other's eyes. He didn't know why, nor could he stop himself from doing so. It felt as if a magnet was slowly pulling them into each other. Their faces were soon only a few inches away from each other, and neither one could do anything but just stare, mesmerized. Their shadows now covered each other's faces and everyone around them seemed to have disappeared from their minds.

The only thing each one could hear now was the heart beat running through their body. The distance between them began to diminish, inch by inch.

Sakura could feel Sasuke's breath on her face.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun . . ." Sakura managed to breathe out, her face completely red. "I . . . I . . .—" She couldn't continue on anymore. She could only watch as they drew closer and closer to each other.

Just as their faces were only centimeters away from each other and their lips met, there was a brilliant flash.

Panicking, both Sakura and Sasuke quickly backed away from each other. They were back in reality.

"What was that?" Sakura shrieked as she rubbed her eyes. Sasuke rubbed his eyes also, then looked around, his vision covered with black blurs now. He finally spotted the culprit.

"Kakashi!" he growled. Kakashi stood a few meters away from them, waving.

"Yo! I'd just thought I would take some pictures of some our love bugs dancing here," he said, as he started to back away from the dance floor.

"Why that—" Sakura rambled on, holding a fist at Kakashi, who waved and disappeared. The entire mood was smashed apart by just that one flash.

"Ai. He must have some nerve, sneaking up on people like that," Sakura said, after she had calmed down. The slow song had now ended and was replaced by some fast song. Sasuke half-nodded. Both of them were still thinking about what had almost happened between them just a few minutes ago. Sakura finally snapped back into reality, and turned to Sasuke.

"Well, uh . . . thank you for dancing with me, Sasuke-kun. I hope you didn't mind too much," she murmured, face completely pink. She was still slightly dazed by what had happened just moments ago. "Let's go back to the table." Sasuke nodded, silent.

The only thing that was on his mind right now was what had happened to both him and Sakura, just a few minutes ago.

It was like . . . the dream.

_No . . . this was more than just like that . . . dream . . . this was beyond what was the dream . . ._

The scene of him and Sakura dancing, and that moment they had just then replayed itself over and over again in his head like a movie.

He was too dazed to feel angry, confused, or frustrated. He could only realize the one thing that had just happened to him: he had almost kissed Sakura.

* * *

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please forgive me if it was confusing, or too sappy! And I am extremely sorry if anyone was out-of-character! Next update will be late, due to a lot of tests and a project coming up in school! I will do my best! Please review and tell me what you thought! ) 


	5. Ch5 Goodbye My Sakura

-0-My Sakura-0-

Thank you, reviewers, for all your reviews! Sad to say this, but this _will _be the last and FINAL chapter of _"My Sakura"._

I really had fun writing this story, and I'm sorry if this chapter is disappointing or not the way you expected the story to end!

I should have typed this a LOOOOONG time ago, but (sighs), no, I do not own any of the Naruto characters . . .

I hoped everyone has enjoyed this story, and thank you for reviewing this story! Please enjoy this final chapter!

* * *

Sasuke groaned. He was back at the table again, deep in his thoughts.

By now, most of the people were dancing, hanging around with their friends, or just sitting at the tables socializing.

The vision of him almost kissing Sakura when they were dancing brought chills down his spine as well as warmth to his cheeks.

_Dammit! None of this was supposed to happen! But how did it happen! And WHY!_

Almost immediately after they had gone back to their table after they danced, Sasuke excused himself to go to the washroom. He had almost felt queasy after what had happened. He couldn't believe what had almost happened: he, Uchiha Sasuke, had almost allowed a GIRL to kiss him!

When he had returned, he sat away from Sakura as far as possible, forcing himself to stare away from her. Sakura herself seemed to be embarrassed with what had almost happened, though she didn't avoid Sasuke like the way he was avoiding her. Instead, when Ino, Ten-Ten, and Hinata had returned from dancing, she chatted with them feverishly about some past experiences they had in the academy.

The guys however, teased each other about dancing with their partners. Kiba had Neji blushing from pink to red within 2 minutes.

Miraculously, none of them had seen Sasuke dance with Sakura, which was a huge relief for Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed. His thoughts wandered once again for the millionth time to the scenario of him with Sakura.

_"Sasuke-kun . . . I . . . I . . ."_

_"Sa-Sakura . . ." His face had flushed and he couldn't help but stare deeper into her green eyes. _

_By then, they had been so close to each other that he could have smelled the scent in her hair._

_Then, somehow, he had started leaning towards her, and before he knew it, he had almost touched her lips with his. That was before Kakashi had broken them apart with the flash of his camera . . ._

_But why couldn't I stop myself! _Sasuke thought, as dread filled his eyes and ran down his spine. _Was it . . . was it because . . . I . . . I l—_

"SASUKE!"

"Hm?" Sasuke blinked a few times, before he noticed that Naruto was motioning him to come over to a spot on the gym where the rest of his friends and class mates were standing.

"Come on! We're going to take a group photo!"

Sasuke frowned at that. He never really liked photos.

_But since I might not see these people ever again, I guess it wouldn't hurt . . ._

Walking over to the group, Sasuke stood right next to Naruto, Sakura right in front of him. Standing next to Naruto was Shikamaru. Chouji, Kiba, Shino and Neji stood right next to each other after Shikamaru.

In front of the guys were the girls. Ten-Ten, Ino, Hinata, and Sakura stood together in a line.

Kakashi stood in front of the whole crowd, waiting patiently as the group of girls and boys shifted around.

"Are you guys ready yet?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay then. We'll have a formal picture first, and then we'll have a couple of crazy pictures after."

Sasuke didn't even hear the words spoken from his Jounin instructor. In fact, he didn't even hear anything spoken by anyone at that moment.

He stood exactly the same way he did for the first photo as he did for the rest of them while everyone posed differently for each picture. He didn't even bother to look up to the camera.

All his thoughts were focused on that one incident between him and Sakura.

When the group finally had their photos taken, they slowly headed back to the table. Sasuke however, stayed where he was. His pulse quickened as his heart pounded against his throat. He could hardly focus. The only thing that was on his mind at that moment was Sakura.

_Sakura . . ._

Horror filled his eyes as flashbacks kept replaying itself over and over again in his head. His heart pounded louder with each memory.

"_Sasuke-kun, you know, you don't have to carry me all this way. Kakashi-sensei only assigned you to carry me back to Konoha, not to my house."_

_"Well, you can barely stand, so how do you expect to go home like this?" _

Bah-bump!

"_Sakura . . . . . . You look . . . very nice in that dress . . ."_

"_Th-thank you, Sasuke-kun . . . . . . You look so handsome in your suit . . ."_

" _. . . . . . ."_

Bah-Bump! Bah-Bump!

"_Sasuke, you're in love with her, aren't you?" _

Bah-Bump! Bah-Bump! Bah-Bump!

_"Sasuke, could it be possible that you actually have a crush on Sakura-chan?" _

Bah-Bump! Bah-Bump! Bah-Bump! Bah-Bump!

"_Sasuke-kun . . . I . . . I . . ."_

_"Sa-Sakura . . ." His face had flushed and he couldn't help but stare deeper into her green eyes. Their lips had almost touched if it weren't for Kakashi's interruption. _

**BAH-BUMP! BAH-BUMP! BAH-BUMP! BAH-BUMP! BAH-BUMP!**

_"Thank you, Sasuke-kun . . ." _

_Dammit . . .What have I done? . . . What have I been doing this w-whole time? . . ._

His fist trembled.

_Dammit . . . DAMMIT! _

Uchiha Itachi's face appeared into his head once again.

_"Foolish brother. If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way, run and run and cling onto life."_

_Damn you Itachi . . . _

"_Sasuke, you're in love with her, aren't you?" _

_"You cannot choose both Sakura and your goal to avenge your clan."_

_"Sasuke, are you that afraid of falling in love? Is that the real reason why you've decided to go with that choice of revenge and leave Konoha?" _

_Damn you Kakashi . . ._

"_I. . . I was wondering, Sasuke-kun. I know you'll probably say no, but would you like to go to the dance with me just as a friend?"_

"_You don't have to say yes, but I was just wondering if you would like to dance with me."_

_"Thank you, Sasuke-kun . . ."_

"Damn you, Sakura . . ." he whispered hoarsely. With a rage of frustration and confusion, he stared at his pink-haired team mate, who was standing farther away from him, near their table. Sakura coincidentally at that moment stared back at him, eyes innocently brimming with recent tears. Sasuke could not look away. His eyes stared into hers.

For a few seconds, they locked gazes; flashbacks of their incident during the time they were dancing came rushing through them once more.

Finally, Sasuke blinked, a cold look replacing his confused one. Then he turned away from her and left the gym.

Walking quickly down the hall, he didn't even notice that he had brushed past Naruto, who had just come out of the washroom.

"Oy! Sasuke! Where are you going?" Naruto asked as Sasuke kept walking down the hall. He didn't turn around.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called again. When he saw that Sasuke was ignoring him and had disappeared at the corner of the hallway, he shrugged in defeat and went back to the gym.

Sasuke however, didn't stop to go back to the gym. In fact, he never went back into the school building. Instead, he walked out of the school, down the main road, and up some smaller roads before stopping right in front of the door to his home.

* * *

Sakura sighed.

Something was wrong. Something just didn't feel right.

She glanced beside her at Sasuke's empty chair. It was now almost 45 minutes since she had last seen him. Before he had left the gym, they had locked gazes with each other. Almost immediately, her cheeks had turned into deep shades of pink. Then he had a weird expression on his face, almost a cold one, and she had not seen him since then.

_Could it be . . . that he hates me? Maybe what had happened just then had frightened him off. _

Sakura could feel all tingly inside when she thought back of how Sasuke had been dancing with her, and how they had almost kissed each other.

She didn't even know how it had happened. One moment ago they were dancing; the next moment later they were going closer to each other as if some magic magnet had suddenly been placed between them, and before she knew it, she had almost kissed him.

Sakura sighed again. It was crystal clear that she was truly in love with Sasuke. But did he feel the same about her?

_Probably not . . . but there's something that still bothers me . . . It's the way he left the gym . . . The way he looked at me . . . . . . He looked strange . . . He had . . . a strange look in his eyes . . . _

A flash back of Sasuke staring back at her just before he left appeared in her mind.

_Those eyes . . . those dark, lonely eyes . . ._

It was really bothering her now. Something in his eyes just somehow alerted her that something was wrong.

Standing up from her seat, Sakura looked around, scanning for a trace of Sasuke. There was no sign of him.

Neji and Ten-Ten were currently talking to each other, occasionally laughing from time to time. Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji were engaged in conversation while Kiba and Shino were talking about some issue back when they were in the academy, Hinata listening to them from the side.

She suddenly noticed that Naruto had just returned to their table after talking to Jiraiya and Kakashi. Walking up to him, she asked, "Naruto, have you seen Sasuke-kun around?"

"Sasuke?" Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean he hasn't come back yet?"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought he came back. That's strange." Naruto looked around for his best friend and arch rival.

"You're right, Sakura-chan," he said a few seconds later. "Sasuke isn't here."

"Then where is he?" Sakura asked, a hint of eagerness in her voice.

"I don't know," Naruto answered. "Didn't he tell you where he was going?"

"No. It was right after we took the group photos. I was walking back to the table, and I just turned around to see where he was. That's when I saw him leave the gym."

"Hey! I remember now! I went to the washroom after the photo, and when I came out, Sasuke walked past me in the hall. I tried to call him, but he didn't answer me. He must have been in a hurry or something, because he was walking pretty quickly. After he disappeared down the hall, I came back. I thought he just went to get something—"

Sakura's heart grew heavy as she listened to Naruto's response.

_Sasuke-kun . . . _

She suddenly ran towards the direction of Kakashi and Jiraiya, leaving Naruto turning his head to look at her with a puzzled look on his face.

"Kakashi-Sensei! Have you seen Sasuke-kun?" she asked wildly. Kakashi turned away from Jiraiya and looked down at her.

"Yo, Sakura! Having fun so far?" he asked in a cheerful voice.

"Well, um . . . yes . . . sort of. Sensei, have you seen Sasuke-kun?"

"Sasuke?" Kakashi looked around.

_Looks like that boy has already left . . . I guess that's his decision . . ._

He looked back at Sakura. "Sorry, Sakura, but I haven't seen him," he said, in the same cheerful voice. Sakura looked a little bit upset, then said a word of thank you before she turned her heel and headed quickly for the door.

Kakashi glanced in the direction that she had gone off.

_Poor girl . . . She'll find out sooner or later . . ._

* * *

Sakura stood in the front of the school, letting her hair fly in the soft breeze. It wasn't too chilly that evening.

Staring up into the darkened sky, Sakura sighed. She could just almost see Sasuke in the stars, with his hypnotizing eyes, cool hair style, and his rarely seen irresistible smile.

She frowned. She knew that she blew it.

_I still can't believe it . . . I finally got to dance with Sasuke . . . I almost kissed him . . . and n-now . . . he left the dance without me . . . Could it be that I scared him off? Or was it something else I did wrong?_ Sakura wondered as she looked into the sky.

The look in his eyes before he left was so strange that it stuck out in her mind. Sakura sighed. Reluctantly, she decided to go home, since Sasuke had already left and there was no point in staying with a heart as heavy as hers.

She started walking down the main road towards the direction of her home when suddenly, the haunting image of Uchiha Itachi's eyes flashed in her mind.

She stopped.

The haunting nightmare seemed to replay itself. Especially the part when Itachi plunged his kunai into Sasuke's head . . .

_Sharingan . . ._

Her heart was beating strangely fast. Looking around her, she checked to see that no one was following her before she continued walking. She felt very paranoid now, thinking back about her nightmare.

Then Sasuke's words hit her.

"_I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."_

"_I am an avenger."_

She stopped walking. Wait a minute—

_"—to kill a certain man—"_

Her pulse suddenly increased again and she felt an eerie feeling in her heart.

"_I am an avenger."_

Sakura felt her eyes widened as she suddenly thought of another possible explanation as to why Sasuke left the dance.

_No . . . what if he . . . what if Sasuke-kun was . . .—_

She quickly turned on her heels and started quickly down the opposite direction of the main road.

Slowly, the moon began to rise above the sky as the dance ended 10 minutes later and students began to depart from it.

* * *

"I'll see you guys later," Shikamaru said as he waved to Kiba, Chouji, and Shino.

"See you later, Romeo!" Kiba said, winking at him.

"Bye Ino! Bye Shikamaru!" Chouji said as Shino waved farewell.

"Bye!" Ino said as she and Shikamaru walked down the road side by side. The guys walked down the opposite way, eventually splitting off into different smaller roads to their homes.

"So . . ." Ino said nervously after almost half a minute of silence. "Why are you walking me home? Not that I don't appreciate or anything—"

"Well, Ino. You do know that it's a gentleman's duty to escort a lady home after a dance," Shikamaru responded, putting his hands in his pockets. "Besides, a girl shouldn't walk home at night alone. You have no idea how many serial killers are out there."

"Oh. I see. Well . . . um . . . thanks."

"Don't mention it."

They walked a little bit more in silence, until Shikamaru surprisingly spoke up.

"Say, Ino?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you see in Uchiha?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is why do you like him so much? In fact, why do all the girls like him so much?"

"Why do I like Sasuke-kun? W-ell, first of all, he has that absolutely gorgeous hairstyle. I mean, it's not too long or too short, and it blows in the wind! Then, there's that pair of eyes he has! I don't know why, but EVERY girl that has ever stared into his eyes ends up falling in love with him! It's so . . . hypnotizing! There's also that sexy smile of his. He doesn't smile much, but when he actually does, it makes him look so cool and so handsome . . . well, he IS already cool and handsome. And finally, it's his attitude! His attitude is what makes him so cool! He acts so mysterious, so cocky, and so . . . well, daring, that it attracts all us hopeless romantics! Ahhh . . ."

Shikamaru almost felt like puking in front of her, but he knew he had to hold back. He felt shivers down his spine though, whenever Ino talked about Sasuke like that.

He frowned.

"That's it?"

"HUH! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S IT!" Ino exclaimed.

"Are you telling me that all you ever like about Uchiha is his appearance and aloof attitude?"

"Well, yeah!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Have you even considered the fact that he hates all of you? Especially his 'fan club'?"

"Well . . . that's what makes him so mysterious. He's never seen around with a girl . . . except for Forehead Girl whenever they have missions . . . and he doesn't care about anyone either!"

Shikamaru blinked.

"And what exactly has he done for you to deserve all this praise?"

"W-ell . . . . . ." Ino paused. Shikamaru had caught her there.

Shikamaru secretly grinned as Ino couldn't answer his question.

"Well?" he asked.

"Oh be quiet!" Ino pouted as she lifted head high, nose in the air. But her voice was softer when she spoke again, "You're right, Shikamaru. Sasuke-kun . . . no, Sasuke has done nothing for me at all. I never really forced myself to realize this, but you are right. Maybe THAT'S why I've been feeling like this."

"Like how?"

"I've been feeling sort of . . . strange these days. I keep thinking about . . . about how you've always treated me nicely and then I would think about how I would long Sasuke to do the same. But . . . reality just doesn't work that way."

"No."

They walked on in silence again, until they arrived in front of Ino's house.

"Well . . . um . . . thanks for walking me home, Shikamaru," Ino said, as she turned around to face him. Shikamaru smiled.

"It's no problem. Thanks for choosing me to be your partner for the dance, Ino."

Ino smiled. "You know," she said, looking down at the ground. "I have to admit, I had the best time today at the dance with you."

"Really? What about Uchiha—"

"Sasuke-kun? Well, I'll just have to say that Sakura is one lucky girl, but the dance would have been way different if Sasuke-kun was my partner. I don't think I would have had more fun if he was my partner because he barely even talks. But you, you're different." Ino smiled. Shikamaru smiled reluctantly.

To his surprise, Ino suddenly stepped forward and hugged him. His eyes grew wide for a second, before he reluctantly closed his hands around her waist.

Ino closed her eyes. _It's clear now. I must be in love with Shikamaru. Not Sasuke-kun . . ._

After a few more seconds, Ino pulled herself away from him and Shikamaru released her from his arms. They stared at each other for a second, before blushing again.

"Well then, um . . . goodnight," Ino stuttered, as she looked onto the ground shyly.

"Yeah. Good night," Shikamaru stammered. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yep. Bye!" Ino quickly walked up the steps to her house, unlocked the door with her keys, and open it. Turning around, she waved to Shikamaru, who waved back before she went inside and closed the door.

* * *

Ten-Ten bit her bottom lip nervously as she and Neji walked silently side by side.

They've been in silence for almost 2 minutes now, and it was so nerve-racking that she could hardly stand it.

_Okay . . . what should I say?_ She thought as she tried thinking of something to say.

But her mind was still distractedly wandering to the time Neji had asked her to dance.

_"Ten-Ten," he had said nervously. _

_"Yes?" She couldn't help but blush, because he had been staring right into her eyes. _

_After clearing his throat, he asked her the one thing she had been dreaming he would ask for a long time, ever since he had first agreed to be her partner: "W-Would you . . . would you l-l-like to dance with m-me?"_

She sighed, her heart beating once again in remembrance of that one moment. Then, of course, there was that other unforgettable experience of dancing with him. He had actually wrapped his arms around her waist, while she had her arms around his neck.

_And he didn't reject me . . ._ Ten-Ten realized. _But he probably just danced with me because Gai Sensei had forced him to in the first place –_

"Ten-Ten?"

"Huh?" Turning her head, she saw that Neji was looking at her as they were walking down the road. "Yeah? What is it?"

_Stop blushing! Stop blushing, you idiot!_ She thought to herself.

Neji blinked at her at first, then looked down onto the ground, as if deciding whether or not he should say something, then turned back to her.

"I . . . I actually had a great time today." Ten-Ten blinked at that.

"Really? Same here. I didn't expect myself to have _this_ much fun at the dance before."

"Yeah . . . Me too." They walked on in silence again, each one lost in their own thoughts.

"You know," Ten-Ten said, after a minute of silence. "I think I saw Hinata dancing with Naruto today, and Ino and Shikamaru, when w-we were dancing."

"O-oh. R-really?" Neji tried not to think too much of him dancing with Ten-Ten, but it just couldn't be helped. It was the only thing that kept popping up in his mind.

"Yeah. Hinata just looks so innocent next to Naruto. It's almost cute," she said, smiling. Neji had to smile at that. It was true though.

"Hm. I have to agree with you on that," he replied. "Hinata-sama does look innocent compared to Naruto. She's always so quiet and he's always talking whenever he can."

"Say. . . I wonder if Sakura ever got to dance with Sasuke . . ." Ten-Ten wondered out loud. "If she did, then she'll probably be the luckiest girl in the world." Neji felt his brow unconsciously arch, then shrugged and asked a question that had suddenly popped into his mind.

"Do you like Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Huh?" That question was one that Ten-Ten had not been expecting, especially from a guy like Neji, so she just blinked for a while, thinking of what to say.

"Uh . . . wh-what do y-y-you mean by that, exactly?"

"Well, from what I've seen and heard, most of the girls seem to be crazy about him," Neji murmured.

"Well, yes, he's attractive and all, but no, I'm not in love with him, if that's what you mean. He's just a good-looking guy, that's all. Besides, I barely even know him."

Neji nodded, his heart slightly relieved.

They walked on a little bit more until they reached Ten-Ten's house. As they approached the front porch steps to Ten-Ten's house, she turned around to Neji. They were standing pretty close to each other, though not too close.

"Well, Neji, I'm really glad we had a good time together at the dance today," she said, a bit disappointed that she couldn't spend more time with him. Neji nodded too.

"Yeah. Me too."

There was awkward silence before Ten-Ten spoke up again.

"Are you going to be training again tomorrow?" she asked timidly. Neji looked up at that.

"Are you?"

"Yep."

"Are you going to be at the usual training spot?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Yeah."

"I'll wait for you there." That sounded a little bit personal. Ten-Ten blushed. She tried to rephrase that. "I mean, um . . . well, we always train together . . . that's what I meant . . . so uh . . . I'll just –" She didn't seem to notice, but while she had been talking, Neji had taken a step forward and had leaned towards her. She stopped talking when she saw that Neji was staring into her eyes. Her face turned into a shade of pink as she stared back.

Neji leaned closer to her, then rather reluctantly titled his head slightly and kissed her on the cheek. Then he pulled back, and looked away rather shyly, blushing.

Ten-Ten's face still felt hot from where the kiss had been planted on her face. She was just speechless for that moment. She had never expected that from Neji.

_Does that mean . . . you really danced with me . . . because you liked me?_

She couldn't help it anymore. Stepping forward, she gently kissed him back on the cheek. When she pulled back, they stared back at each other for a moment, before Ten-Ten broke into a smile. Neji smiled back.

"Do you . . . want to hang out after training . . .?" Ten-Ten finally asked.

Neji smiled, a shade of red covering his face. "Yeah, sure."

Ten-Ten smiled once again before turning to go to the front door.

"Thanks for walking me home Neji, and for taking me to the dance."

"No problem. Thanks for agreeing to be my partner in the first place." Neji stared at her beautiful eyes once again. Ten-Ten smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yep. Goodnight, Ten-Ten."

"Goodnight , Neji."

With that, Ten-Ten unlocked the door, opened it, and went inside.

When Neji left Ten-Ten's house, he could see her peering out to watch him through her bedroom window with his Byakugan.

* * *

Hinata smiled to herself, hands clasped together as she walked beside Naruto down the road. Ever since they left the dance together, Naruto had been going on about how great and how fun it had been.

"The food was actually pretty good, even though they didn't have any ramen there. But still, it was delicious. Especially those fried shrimps and California rolls. Oh man, they were absolutely addictive—"

Hinata only half-listened to his conversations as they walked. Her mind was still set onto the moment they had together when they were dancing. Her wish had actually come true: Naruto had asked her to dance.

Her mind wandered off.

"_But if Hinata hadn't agreed to go the dance with me, then I probably wouldn't be as happy as I am now." Naruto then turned and smiled at her. It took her quite a moment before she could respond shakily._

"_N-Naruto-kun . . ."_

"_Don't forget, Hinata! I still owe you for being my wonderful partner! If it weren't for you, then I'll probably be stuck with some weird girl. Thanks once again!"_

The only thing that she was embarrassed about then was that Neji had caught her reacting to Naruto shyly.

"_Hinata, you want to dance too?" _That question was extremely unexpected. It had only been a question one could possibly daydream about all day long and long to be asked by the one they loved. She almost stopped breathing all together when she remembered that it wasn't a dream: it was real.

"_W-w-w-w-ell, I – I – I . . . um . . . I . . . uh . . . Y-y . . . y-y-y-e-s-s-s-s-s."_

"_Yay! I'm so glad you didn't turn me down."_

But the best part yet was when they were actually dancing together. And once again, it was something that she had never expected the real Naruto to do.

_"I never thought you would be so nice as to not reject me. All the girls seem to hate me, but you're always so nice to me. It makes me very happy." _

_"R-r-really?" _

_"Yup. I like that about you. You don't hate me. And even though I'm always so annoying, you never treat me as if I'm an annoying person." _

_"O-oh. Th-t-thank you, N-N-Naruto-kun," she had murmured, her face on the verge to matching the temperature of a volcano. _

_Then he stepped forward even more, so that they were even closer to each other, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She could only rest her head on his shoulder as she tried to think of a way to express her feelings to him. _

Of course, she never got to it because she was just too shy and nervous.

"Say, Hinata?"

"Hm?" Taken by surprise, a rather pink-faced Hinata looked to Naruto. "Y-yes, Naruto-k-kun?"

"Why is it that all the girls except for you treat me like some annoying person?" he asked, looking up into the sky. "And why is it that they all seem to worship Sasuke all the time? I mean, he ignores them like houseflies. What's so attractive about that?"

"W-well . . . m-maybe . . . p-perhaps t-t-they think h-he's amazing b-b-because h-he is good-d looking . . ."

"Well, he's not THAT good-looking, is he?"

"H-huh?"

_Is he a-asking me? _"W-well . . . he's n-not really my type, N-Naruto-kun. T-truly, I respect h-him as a class-mate. But I d-don't admire him as the o-other girls d-d-do."

Naruto suddenly whirled around, scaring the heck out of Hinata. They stopped walking in the middle of the road.

"Did you just say that you don't LIKE SASUKE!" Naruto exclaimed.

" . . . . . . ." Hinata stared at him for a second before looking down onto the ground. "Y-y-y-yes . . ."

"WHOO HOO!" Naruto jumped about a foot in the air, pumping his fist into the air. Hinata stared at him as he did a victory dance, then rush forward and picked her up in a hug, while spinning about in a circle at the same.

Hinata's eyes went wide. "N . . . Naruto-kun?" she managed to breathe out as Naruto whirled her around in one more circle, almost collapsing, before he put her back onto the ground.

"Oh. I'm sorry, but it's just that _you're _the first girl who I've known who isn't a Sasuke-fan!" Naruto said, grinning from ear to ear. Hinata blinked, then shyly looked down onto the ground, a small smile on her face.

As they continued walking, Hinata stole a glance at Naruto again. She envied at how he could just talk so freely without once ever feel shy, at how he was able to become stronger at such a fast pace, and how he never gave up, no matter how difficult the situation was. She was the opposite of all these facts.

_Maybe . . . perhaps one day, I can be just as brave, strong, and confident as you, Naruto-kun . . ._

They finally arrived at Hinata's house a few minutes later, Naruto talking all the while on how great everyone thinks Sasuke was and how he would one day become the Hokage of Konoha and show everyone and Sasuke just how great _he_ was. He managed to earn a lot of smiles and a few giggles from Hinata, though she barely talked and mostly listened to his conversation.

But it had been fun all the way; mostly because Naruto was so happy that Hinata wasn't one bit annoyed with him and that she wasn't an "I-LOVE-SASUKE-Fan-Girl".

He still wasn't accustomed to seeing her BIG house, so he always sort of gawked at the house when they arrived.

Walking her up to the front door, Naruto grinned.

"Well, I'm so glad you agreed to be my partner in the first place, Hinata. Otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here, telling you how much fun I had at the dance with you."

"Huh? . . . Oh . . . mm . . . I should be t-t-thanking you Naruto," Hinata answered, trying to talk without feeling her heartbeat increase every millisecond. There was silence for a brief moment before Naruto spoke again.

"You know," Naruto said, looking towards the ground. "Sometimes, I feel as if everyone treats me as the opposite of Sasuke, just because I'm different from him. I try to be as cool and as strong as he is, but it usually comes out a different way. And in the end, everyone hates me or compares me, as a lower class to him, as a higher class. That's why I was so overjoyed that you didn't turn me down when I asked you to the dance."

" . . . . ."

"I was really scared that I might not find a partner, just because I wasn't anything like Sasuke. I . . . I just don't think I'm good enough for you. You deserve better, Hinata. You really do, because you're always so nice to me. I'm just not cool and strong enough to even deserve to be your partner."

" . . . . . . B-but . . . umm . . . . you're c-cool and strong in your own way, Naruto-kun. I-I . . . I really think so. Y-you see, b-back in the Chuunin exam, when I was fighting a-against Neji-niisan, you cheered for me, and t-that alone gave me c-courage to f-fight back. B-because of you, I was able to c-change myself a little bit." Hinata swallowed.

"You shouldn't c-compare yourself to Sasuke, Naruto-kun. Nobody should. You . . . should just be y-yourself . . . be . . . b-because . . . I . . . I . . . mm . . . I l-like you the w-way you are . . ." She almost immediately gasped as she realized what she had just said, but quickly stifled her voice so that she didn't make a sound.

Naruto looked at her, eyes wide. "R-really?" he asked calmly. He blushed slightly.

Hinata nodded, looking down onto the ground all the way. Her cheeks were awfully red. She started twiddling with her index fingers again as her heart hammered against her chest.

"In my eyes, _you_ are the Sasuke in m-my life."

There was silence as Hinata twiddled around with her fingers more distractedly. Naruto digested this bit of information before he spoke again.

"Hm." Smiling, he looked up at her. "Thanks, Hinata. I really appreciated that."

" . . . . . ." Hinata smiled back, her face constantly changing into a deeper shade of red.

_He . . . he smiled at me . . ._

" . . . I . . . I guess I s-s-should go now . . ." Hinata said shakily. "T-thank you, Naruto-kun, for taking m-me to the dance and w-walking me back h-home."

"Hm. It's no problem," Naruto said softly. He still seemed dazed with what Hinata had told him.

As Hinata turned to go ring the door bell, Naruto grabbed her wrist just as she pushed the button to the doorbell.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she said, turning around. Her eyes were wide.

_Is he . . ._

Naruto grinned at her. "Hinata, I was just wondering: would you like to go see a movie with me tomorrow?"

_BAH-BUMP!_

Hinata almost fainted. Steadying herself, the color of her cheeks was beyond description and she felt her mind repeat those words a million times.

_"Hinata, I was just wondering: would you like to go see a movie with me tomorrow?"_

_Naruto-kun . . . I . . . just don't know how to thank you . . . Thank you for not . . . rejecting me . . . This is . . . This is more than I could ever have asked for . . .much more than I can ever have expected from you, Naruto-kun . . . Thank you . . ._

Naruto waited patiently as Hinata tried to calm herself down. Finally, with much effort and bravery, she murmured her answer, her eyes looking down all the way.

"Y-y-y-y-yesssssss . . . . . . ."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, still holding onto Hinata's hand. He ran forward and gave her a big hug. "Thanks Hinata! I promise you, we're going to have so much fun! And afterwards, I'm going to treat you to ramen for lunch –"

Hinata, still a bit traumatized by his reaction, rested her chin on his shoulder, happy that this was such a wonderful night.

Little did she know that her father was watching from inside the house, smiling to himself, and giving them a few more minutes together outside.

_Hinata . . . you've really grown up, haven't you? I'm proud of you, daughter._

* * *

_(Some lines are taken from Ch 181 of manga or from episode 109)_

The wind blew as Sasuke walked quietly down the main road. It had been almost 70 minutes ago since he had left the dance.

A few leaves blew in his path as he continued down the road. He was wearing his normal clothes once again, with his shuriken holster on his right leg and a backpack on his back.

He had only taken what he had needed for his journey: some clothes, money, his weapons/scrolls, and a little bit of food/water. He didn't wear his headband. No . . . that was in his pocket.

Walking down the quiet path, he noticed how bright the sky was tonight. Even though it was dark, the moon lit up the sky and cast down its light onto the streets of Konoha.

It was pretty quiet, because most of the people were sleeping. The crickets were the only sounds he could hear, other than that of his footsteps.

He neared the entrance, as well as the exit, to the village of the Leaf. It would take him perhaps 5 minutes more or less to depart from his home village.

As he walked past the school and down that path, he suddenly noticed a figure a little bit ahead of him. The person was wearing something pinkish-red and had pink hair.

_Sakura . . ._

As he neared her, she walked towards him, and stopped in the middle of the path. She still had on her dress for the dance.

The first thing that she noticed was the backpack on Sasuke's back. Her eyes widened as her mouth opened partially, shocked.

She had been right. She had been so right that it'd hurt.

She could only watch as Sasuke walked closer to her, and then finally stopped walking and stood in front of her. They were about three meters apart.

He looked at her. "What are you doing down here so late at night? Shouldn't you have gone home with the others after the dance finished?"

Sakura lowered her head slightly as she answered him, "I left the dance early because I was worried about you. So I went to look for you. Besides, this is the only road leading out to the village."

Sasuke closed his eyes, then turned his head away from hers and continued walking. "Go home and sleep," he said coldly.

She felt her heart crumble as he walked past her, never stopping to look back or say a word to her. It felt like they had never known each other at all. As he continued walking, she felt her lip tremble and her eyes water.

"You're going after your brother, aren't you, Sasuke-kun?" she murmured after a moment of silence, still not turning around.

" . . . . . ." Sasuke didn't respond to that, but rather kept walking at the same pace.

"Why . . . Why are you still after him?" she asked quietly, as she turned her body sideways. "Why won't you stay here with us? Why can't you give up your hatred of your brother? Why do you still—"

"Why are you always sticking your nose into my business?" he answered coldly. He stopped walking. Sakura watched him as tears filled her eyes. He stood still. "This has absolutely nothing to do with you. Quit trying to be nosy."

Sakura tried to digest this, but she couldn't. Looking away for a second, her tears slowly dripped down her cheeks.

Silence filled the atmosphere for a moment as Sakura swallowed. Biting her lip, she smiled shakily.

"You always act like you hate me, Sasuke-kun." He didn't respond to that. She breathed in shakily.

"Do you remember . . . when I first asked you to be my partner for the dance?"

A flash back of that incident replayed itself in both their minds.

"_I'm going home. Remember to ice that ankle." Sasuke had started to go down the road when Sakura had yelled, "Wait!" _

_"What now?" he had responded._

"_I. . . I was wondering, Sasuke-kun. . ." Sasuke waited. "I know you'll probably say no, but would you like to go to the dance with me just as a friend? We don't have to dance or anything and it's the least I can do for you for carrying me back to my home. I know you don't have a partner yet, s-so . . . would you like to go with me?"_

_He had almost immediately looked down and had turned around, her back facing her. She had felt her heart crumble when she had seen this response. _

_He's going to say No, I just know it. And then, afterwards, he'll probably never want to have anything to do with me again. What is it that he doesn't like about me? Is it because I'm who I am?. . . . I should have never asked him in the first place. Maybe if I didn't ask him, then my heart wouldn't be broken and we could have just been friends instead._

_But to her surprise, 20 seconds later, Sasuke's shoulders heaved up and he muttered a reply. _

_"Pardon me?" she had asked, because she couldn't hear his voice. _

_"I said, what time?" _

_"W-what do you mean what time?" _

_"I mean what time should I pick you up?" he had said a bit louder this time, not turning around. She soon realized what his answer meant and had almost immediately smiled._

_"You mean, you'll go with me-"_

_"Hey, I'm only going with you as a friend, remember? That's what you said. Besides, I don't want my annoying fan club to go around stalking me for the next few days just so they can ask me if I can go with them to the dance." Sasuke still had not turned around to face her. "So do you want me to come with you or not—"_

_"Yes. Yes I do. I do want you to come with me, please," she had answered in a voice which was growing softer with each word. "Sasuke-kun, I won't annoy you. I . . . won't force you to dance with me-"_

"_Sakura," he said. "What time am I coming to get you?" _

_"Oh. Um . . . the dance starts at 7:00, so why don't you come over at 6:30, so then we can get there early and talk to people before we go in?" _

_"Okay. See you then." With that, Sasuke had left and that was how they had ended up going to the dance together._

Sakura looked up to him, tears staining her cheeks. "I was so overjoyed when you had said that you would be my partner. I . . . I'd thought that maybe, perhaps with the dance and all, we could become better friends. I . . . I still felt so distant from you, even though I saw you almost everyday whenever we did missions. I thought that . . . perhaps you would . . . you would like to know me better also . . . and not have to identify me as just some stupid fan girl of yours, but rather . . . as a good f-friend . . ."

She sniffed again, thinking back of the memory of Sasuke dancing with her.

_Or perhaps much more than just a good friend . . ._

Sasuke didn't even blink. "I only said yes because I didn't have a partner. It was nothing personal. I had no intention whatsoever to become better friends with you. Besides, you mean nothing more to me than just a mere team mate."

She felt her heart crack. That comment hurt her. It was like receiving a slap in the face.

Sakura's small smile turned upside down. As she looked away from him once more, she held back a choking sob, tears dripping the ground and forming one small water stain.

"I . . . I s-s-see . . ." she murmured shakily after a few seconds of trying to control her crying. "B-but . . . I . . . I guess . . . it's the first time we've done anything together outside of missions . . . just the two of us as partners. Even though you might not have enjoyed going to the dance, I enjoyed every moment of it. From buying a new dress and waiting for you to pick me up, to eating together, and taking pictures. I enjoyed it all, especially when we danced together. It was really fun . . . and I hope you've had fun with me at the dance too . . ." She smiled, tear drops gathering at the corners of her eyes like small droplets.

Sasuke didn't move.

Sakura sniffed as she swallowed and looked at the back of Sasuke's head. After a few seconds of silence, she continued on, "Sasuke-kun, I know what happened to your clan. I know why you're always so angry at your brother, and I guess . . . this is the reason why you would stop at nothing to avenge your clan. But . . ."

She thought back of her nightmare. The thought of Itachi's Sharingan gave her the shivers.

"Sasuke-kun, you can get hurt! Uchiha Itachi's extremely dangerous . . . He even defeated Kakashi Sensei! I just . . . I just don't want to see you get hurt anymore, Sasuke-kun! You might even get killed!" Her voice was now rising up more as she took one step towards him. "Please, don't go! You might . . . you might never come back alive! You might suffer even more, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke listened to her words. But he did not turn around to face her. He breathed in before saying to her quietly, "I know."

Sakura stared at him, shocked at his answer. Sasuke continued on, "I already know the possible results of what would happen if I were to go and kill my brother. I have also accepted them. Even if I must die, I have to still move forward and pursue my brother. That is my only other destiny besides death. I exist for this purpose and this purpose only. That is why I am an avenger. I can never be like you or Naruto."

"Why must you always think of yourself as an avenger?" Sakura said hysterically. "Why . . . why can't you just give up your revenge? Revenge won't give happiness to anyone! Not you . . . nor me . . ." Her voice trailed off as she looked at Sasuke.

She watched his shoulders heave up slightly as he let out a sigh. "Sakura . . . stop talking as if this means anything to you," he said emotionlessly. "I've already told you before: this has nothing to do with you. So stop trying to be nosy and mind your own business."

"!"

Bah-bump! That comment hurt her even more. This time, it felt like a knife had been pushed into her heart.

Her eyes stared in bewilderment at Sasuke as she bit her bottom lip tightly. Sasuke could hear her breathing tensely, as if she was angry or frustrated. But he didn't dare turn around.

Sakura tried to relax and not take that comment to heart, but it just couldn't be helped. Her lip began to tremble as the tears came down like streams of water.

_Why . . . w-why? . . ._

"Why . . . why can' you s-see, Sasuke-kun?" she cried, a choking sob in her voice. "Why c-can't you s-see how m-much I care about y-you?"

" . . . . . ." His heart stood still as he listened to Sakura's desperate words. He looked down at the ground as Sakura's heaving sobs filled his ears.

"Why can't you ever understand, Sasuke-kun?" she murmured, this time in a quieter and exhausted voice. But her voice rose again with each word she said, "I . . . I love y-you . . . I l-love you so m-much that it's b-breaking my h-heart to even see y-you leave . . . P-Please . . . I'm begging you . . . D-don't go . . ."

Sasuke felt his brow arch slightly as he thought of what Sakura had just said.

_"Why . . ._ _Why_ _c-can't you s-see how m-much I care about y-you?_ _Why can't you ever understand, Sasuke-kun? I . . . I love y-you . . . I l-love you so m-much that it's b-breaking my h-heart to even see y-you leave . . . P-Please . . . I'm begging you . . . D-don't go . . ."_

His heart beat sped up as he stayed silent.

_She loves me . . . but . . . I can't love her . . ._

"Sasuke-kun! Please! I'm begging you!" Sakura cried out, her voice cracking with emotion. "Please! D-d-don't go! If . . . If you stay here with me, you won't regret it! I promise! We . . . We can s-still be friends! And . . . e-everyday, we'll do something f-fun! Or . . . if that is not at a-all possible, then . . . please . . . take me with you! I'll help you with your r-revenge, Sasuke-kun! I don't k-know what I can do, b-but I'll do m-my best to help you with y-your revenge! All I'm asking for is that you'll s-stay by my side, Sasuke-kun! PLEASE!"

" . . . . . . . "

The wind blew gently as silence filled the atmosphere for a moment.

Sasuke stared at the ground for a bit before he tried to think of an answer to her request. Sakura's sobs were now starting to make his heart grow heavy.

_No . . . I can't allow it . . . I . . . I just can't . . ._

Taking a breath, Sasuke said his words carefully, "Forget about me, Sakura. It would only be easier for you if you forget about me. All the things we did together . . . the missions, the conversations . . . the dance even . . . Forget about it."

With that he stepped forward and began to walk even further away from her. Sakura stared at him in shock.

"DON'T GO!" she screamed, her voice breaking. But Sasuke paid no attention to her and continued walking. Sakura watched in horror as he walked farther away from her with each step he took. Her pupils shook violently as she trembled.

"Sasuke-kun! Don't go! I . . . I won't LET YOU!"

With that, Sakura ran forward towards him, panting.

But as she reached Sasuke, everything seemed to move in slow motion. Just as her arms were ready to reach out and hold him back, Sasuke turned around, whipped out a kunai, and held it right in front of her throat. His eyes were narrowed and Sakura could only stop dead in her tracks, frightened at his reaction.

For a moment, they stared at each other, each one frozen in their position. They were less than a meter apart from each other. The kunai gleamed in the moon light. Sakura panted, tears streaming down from her eyes.

"Sakura, I don't want to hurt you," he muttered as he stared into her eyes. His hand tightened around the handle of the kunai as it stayed dangerously near her throat. "I really don't," he said again, this time in a softer voice. "So please . . . stop all this . . ."

Sakura could only choke under her heaving sobs as tears flowed down her cheeks. They locked gazes for almost a minute before Sasuke finally moved his hand away from her throat. He looked very serious with his decision and she could see it in his eyes. She sighed in defeat.

"Are y-you absolutely sure a-about t-t-this ? . . ." she whispered hoarsely.

Sasuke nodded. The kunai was still in his right hand.

Sakura felt broken inside. She knew now that there was no way she would ever be able to change his mind. There was a look of certainty in his eyes.

She swallowed, trying to hold back a sob. "W-Will y-you c-come back to visit-t . . . W-will y-y-you? I'll . . . I'll w-wait for y-you . . ."

Sasuke stared at her before lowering his eyes to the ground. "Perhaps," he murmured. Neither one spoke or made a sound for a few seconds.

Finally, Sakura's heaving sob resurfaced and she covered her face as her heart began to break apart. Sasuke could only watch solemnly as her tears dripped to the ground.

_Sakura . . . does it hurt you this much to see me go? . . ._

After a minute, Sakura spoke up.

"Why . . . why c-can't we ever be together?" she whispered hoarsely as she lifted her hands away from her face and looked down. "Why d-do you always act like y-you h-hate me? Why c-can't we spend our d-days together? Why . . . why c-can't you give me y-your heart w-when I've already given y-you mine?"

Sasuke watched as she continued sobbing. His jaw clenched as his hand tightened and trembled around the kunai. From somewhere inside, he felt his heart snap.

"Sakura . . ." he finally said, after 30 seconds have passed. "I don't . . . I don't hate you . . . It's just that . . ."

Sakura stopped her sobbing and looked up, trying to hold back her crying. To her surprise, Sasuke lifted up his right hand, still clutching the kunai, and began wiping the tears away from her left cheek gently. Sakura could only stare. Her heart stood still and she seemed to be holding her breath.

"You . . . and I . . ." he murmured softly. "We can never be together . . . We just can't . . ." His hand now stretched open partially, allowing him to touch her cheek.

"Perhaps . . . if things had been different . . . then . . . t-then . . ." His voice trailed off. His hand rested on her cheek tenderly as he stared at her.

Sakura stared at him as his eyes lowered to the ground. Then his eyes narrowed slightly and his hand slowly moved away from her cheek and into the air next to her face. Sakura watched intently, wondering what was wrong with Sasuke.

"Sasuke !" Whap! All of a sudden, the left side of her head felt the contact of something hard. Her vision soon blurred as she felt dizzy.

"Sasuke . . . kun . . ." she managed to breathe out before she went unconscious. Her eyes closed. Her body fell limply forward and Sasuke caught her as she fell, her head resting on his shoulder. Carefully putting the kunai away, he let her body rest against his before he turned her to one side and carried her to a nearby bench.

When he had set her down onto the bench, back lying down, he could feel the stain her tears had made on his shirt.

He looked down at her for a long moment, staring at her beautiful complexion. The thoughts and memories of the last few days of him with Sakura appeared in his mind.

"_Why are you always so quiet? Whenever I see you, you're always so . . . quiet." _

"_I'm being nosy here, aren't I?"_

"_Who are you planning to go to the dance with?"_

_"Oh? Me? I don't know yet. I definitely do not want to go with Naruto!"_

"_Sasuke-kun, you know, you don't have to carry me all this way. Kakashi-sensei only assigned you to carry me back to Konoha, not to my house." _

"_Thank you, Sasuke-kun . . ."_

"_I. . . I was wondering, Sasuke-kun. I know you'll probably say no, but would you like to go to the dance with me just as a friend?"_

"_You look so . . . so handsome in your suit."_

"_Isn't this fun, Sasuke-kun?"_

"_You don't have to say yes, but I was just wondering if you would like to dance with me."_

"_I left the dance early because I was worried about you. So I went to look for you. Besides, this is the only road leading out to the village." _

"_Why won't you stay here with us? Why can't you give up your hatred of your brother?"_

"_You always act like you hate me, Sasuke-kun."_

"_I enjoyed it all, especially when we danced together. It was really fun . . . and I hope you've had fun with me at the dance too . . ."_

"_Please, don't go! You might . . . you might never come back alive! You might suffer even more, Sasuke-kun!" _

"_Why . . . why can't you just give up your revenge? Revenge won't give happiness to anyone! Not you . . . nor me . . ."_

"_Why . . . why can' you s-see, Sasuke-kun? Why c-can't you s-see how m-much I care about y-you?"_

"_Why can't you ever understand, Sasuke-kun? I . . . I love y-you . . . I l-love you so m-much that it's b-breaking my h-heart to even see y-you leave . . . P-Please . . . I'm begging you . . . D-don't go . . ."_

"_If you stay here with me, you won't regret it! I promise! We . . . We can s-still be friends! And . . . e-everyday, we'll do something f-fun! Or . . . if that is not at a-all possible, then . . . please . . . take me with you! I'll help you with your r-revenge, Sasuke-kun! I don't k-know what I can do, b-but I'll do m-my best to help you with y-your revenge! All I'm asking for is that you'll s-stay by my side, Sasuke-kun! PLEASE!"_

"_W-Will y-you c-come back to visit-t . . . W-will y-y-you? I'll . . . I'll w-wait for y-you . . ." _

"_Why . . . why c-can't we ever be together? Why d-do you always act like y-you h-hate me? Why c-can't we spend our d-days together? Why . . . why c-can't you give me y-your heart w-when I've already given y-you mine?" _

He knelt down next to her. She looked extremely exhausted, but she still looked beautiful in her dress.

Sasuke couldn't help but stare at her. He hadn't wanted to hit her, but if he didn't, then she might have tried to stop him from leaving. It was less painful to see her unconscious than to see her cry.

He couldn't risk taking her with him either. He wasn't willing to have Uchiha Itachi use her as a hostage in order to torment him or prevent him from avenging his clan. He wasn't willing to lose anymore than he had already.

His eyes rested on her tear-stained face as he stared at her. His heart began to beat faster.

For the first time ever, he didn't try to question himself why he was looking at her, or why she even meant anything to him. The truth remained in his heart.

Bah-bump!

"_Why . . . why c-can't you give me y-your heart w-when I've already given y-you mine?" she had asked him earlier. _

_Sakura . . . I can't give you my heart . . . and I can't give you my soul . . . But . . . I can give you this . . ._

With that, he leaned forward towards her slowly and kissed her. His eyes opened when he pulled his lips away from hers a few seconds later. A warm feeling, as well as a sad one, filled his heart as his cheeks filled with a pink color.

He reached forward and stroked her cheek, drying the tears from her right cheek this time. Her cheek was soft but wet from her tears and she smelled of a soft scent of flowers. He had never done this before in his life. Never.

But it was time. . . . Time for him to go. . . . Time for him to leave.

Brushing her hair back from her face, he stared at her one last time before saying,

"Good bye . . . my Sakura . . ."

With that, he stood up and continued down the road, heading for the gate of Konoha. When he had reached it, he hesitated for a brief moment, thinking over about his decision.

The wind blew quietly. Sasuke looked up into the sky at the moon, then proceeded ahead to the road ahead of him and left.

The End.

* * *

Well, that's it everyone! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it! I want to thank you once again to all my reviewers out there! Thank you so much everyone for supporting me all the way with your reviews! I'm sorry if some characters were too out-of-character and if the ending sucked!Pleasereview!Enjoy! 


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